About the founder
Meet Martin Stow
Founder of The Still Needed Academy™ · Geelong, Victoria, Australia
Martin Stow created The Still Needed Academy from personal experience of what can happen when a significant career ends unexpectedly.
Before migrating to Australia in 1988, Martin served for 15 years with West Yorkshire Metropolitan Police in the United Kingdom. Policing provided far more than employment. It brought identity, purpose, responsibility, structure, camaraderie and the knowledge that his contribution mattered.
When Martin’s police career ended through ill health, he discovered how quickly those important foundations could disappear. He now lives with multiple sclerosis and is registered disabled.
Leaving a career affects much more than income.
Why the Academy was created
People may spend years preparing financially for retirement, yet receive little help preparing for the personal changes that can follow. The end of working life may also mean the loss of professional identity, daily structure, workplace relationships, responsibility, recognition, purpose and the feeling of still being needed.
Martin established the Academy to help people prepare before these changes become overwhelming—and to support those already finding retirement more difficult than expected.
A lifetime of service and community leadership
Martin’s life beyond policing has included training, community leadership, public speaking and more than 35 years of service through Rotary. He is a Past President, a Paul Harris Fellow and a member of the International Police Association. In 2000, he had the privilege of carrying the Olympic Torch during its journey to the Sydney Olympic Games.
A personal message
“Your working life may be ending, or may already have ended, but your experience, knowledge and capacity to contribute remain. Your career was one chapter. Your story is still being written.”
Contact Martin