Man quits binge-drinking to capture Hull's beauty
A man from Hull has amassed more than 20,000 followers in less than a year by spreading positivity with his Facebook page promoting the city.
John Levesley started Hull 01482 in November after realising he did not like who he was becoming.
The feed allows people to reminisce using old photographs posted by contributors and react to Mr Levesley's present day images.
The 35-year-old said the page gives him "purpose”, adding he has created "a bit of a hub". He now hopes to inspire others to be more creative too.
Waking up after a night of drinking, Mr Levesley says he decided "enough was enough"
Mr Levesley had been living in Spain for six years, before returning to the area.
When he got back, he said he went “a little bit wild”, becoming "erratic" and regularly "binge-drinking".
He said: "I was depressed. I was down. I looked in the mirror and the person looking back was not the person I wanted to be. I thought I'm going to change and improve my lifestyle."
He aims to show everyday life in Hull through his pictures and videos
Quitting drinking and armed with his phone, Mr Levesley started capturing the city on camera.
“I don't think a lot of people actually look up or appreciate buildings around them,” he explained.
"That’s something that I always do when I walk around."
'Authentic people'
Mr Levesley said he believed his success was down to the authenticity of his content.
"People like authentic people," he said. "I don't like to be robotic on there."
He now hopes to inspire others to be more creative too.
“If they're stuck in a rut, stuck in a bad way, young people can look at the page and think, ‘oh, I can do something creative'."
Mr Levesley had a simple message for others.
"Get your phone, record things, build up a community. You don't know where it's going to lead."
-BBC
