Having trained as a Primary Teacher, Dave worked in Play, Homelessness, Community Development, Community-based Adult Education and managed a large non-vocational programme in a Further Education College in Nottingham.

In the mid-nineties he returned to Glasgow and launched a community project which trained people who were far removed from the jobs market to become community workers, incorporating a qualification from the University of Glasgow. In parallel to this, he planted a church, taught community development approaches at a local Bible School and raised three children with his wife, Sue.

Over the past 20 years, he has developed undergraduate and post-graduate programmes in Community Development, at the University of Glasgow. His research outputs include books exploring Popular Education and Community Organising and a range of articles covering issues such as community-based addictions, social capital, and university/community partnerships. His most recent book rethinks the purpose and methods of Community Development for the 21st Century.

Dave has been a board member of the International Association for Community Development and The Federation for Community Development Learning and is a member of the Community Learning and Development Standards Council. He is also joint editor of the Radical Community Work Journal.