ONE NIGHT IN SHANGHAI
A Book by Eddie Haworth FRSA, Bolton, England
Due to other projects taking over Eddie's time. The book should be published before the end of 2025.
The Powerful Truth About a Life Lost in Bolton, England
and
Found in Shanghai, China.
Updated June 2025...
This is the preface to a book telling the true story of Eddie Haworth FRSA, who was brought up in a deprived area of northern England, he was sexually abused from the age of six.
By the time he reached his twenties he had been in jail, was a drug user and a young father.
Following the breakdown of his first marriage, he became a heavy drinker living the itinerant life of a street entertainer for several years, before becoming a full-time professional Circus Clown.
So how did he end up travelling around Thailand’s remote border regions entertaining thousands of disadvantaged people for 20 years before coming back to his roots in Bolton?
By the time he reached his twenties he had been in jail, was a drug user and a young father.
Following the breakdown of his first marriage, he became a heavy drinker living the itinerant life of a street entertainer for several years, before becoming a full-time professional Circus Clown.
So how did he end up travelling around Thailand’s remote border regions entertaining thousands of disadvantaged people for 20 years before coming back to his roots in Bolton?
A Life of Laughter, Adventure & Giving Back
Eddie Haworth FRSA
It feels like several lifetimes ago that I ran away from home and school at 15. Since then, I’ve had more than 45 jobs, a few marriages, and proudly welcomed two children, eight grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren into the world.
My journey has taken me across continents, working as a singer, musician, street entertainer, and Circus Clown—learning my craft everywhere from Lapland to Istanbul, New York to Shanghai, and beyond. Eventually, I found a semi-settled home in Bangkok.
After years of adventure (and some questionable decisions), I discovered a deeper purpose when I founded The Gift of Happiness Foundation, a Thai-registered charity dedicated to supporting thousands of migrant families stranded in refugee camps along the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Burma.
Before the pandemic, our charity served more than 2,000 people per month, providing clothing, shoes, toys, and educational supplies, all donated by generous individuals in Bangkok. I also brought joy through clown shows, introducing many children to laughter and entertainment for the first time.
Despite this, my incredible staff and volunteers in Thailand continue our mission, traveling upcountry every month with gifts for the children and their families. I still visit Thailand at least three times a year to spread laughter to thousands more ankle-biters (and their parents, if they’re lucky), creating memories that last a lifetime.
And yet, it all started in Bolton…
It feels like several lifetimes ago that I ran away from home and school at 15. Since then, I’ve had more than 45 jobs, a few marriages, and proudly welcomed two children, eight grandchildren, and three great-grandchildren into the world.
My journey has taken me across continents, working as a singer, musician, street entertainer, and Circus Clown—learning my craft everywhere from Lapland to Istanbul, New York to Shanghai, and beyond. Eventually, I found a semi-settled home in Bangkok.
After years of adventure (and some questionable decisions), I discovered a deeper purpose when I founded The Gift of Happiness Foundation, a Thai-registered charity dedicated to supporting thousands of migrant families stranded in refugee camps along the borders of Thailand, Laos, and Burma.
Before the pandemic, our charity served more than 2,000 people per month, providing clothing, shoes, toys, and educational supplies, all donated by generous individuals in Bangkok. I also brought joy through clown shows, introducing many children to laughter and entertainment for the first time.
Despite this, my incredible staff and volunteers in Thailand continue our mission, traveling upcountry every month with gifts for the children and their families. I still visit Thailand at least three times a year to spread laughter to thousands more ankle-biters (and their parents, if they’re lucky), creating memories that last a lifetime.
And yet, it all started in Bolton…
Quote from the book, One Night in Shanghai
Eddie Haworth FRSA paying respect to fellow Boltonian, Fred Dibnah MBE
I was born in a caravan which was surrounded by coal mines and cotton mills in the located in a filthy, polluted part of Manchester in the North West of England in 1952. I had two teenaged half-sisters and a younger sister who was born when i was two years old and soon after our parents had saved enough to pay the deposit on a very small terraced house near Bolton.
That is where I spent my early childhood learning how to survive the rigours of living in one of Britain’s most deprived areas in a house that shared an outside toilet with six other back-to-back terraced hovels.
This was also during a time when children like me were often left to get on with the business of growing up virtually alone while our parents went out to work for 12 hours a day in, truly, dark satanic mills, factories or coal mines.
However, I think I was still quite a happy child living the same life as all my friends and family who knew little about how green the grass may be in more affluent parts of the world, or even just within the small town where I lived?
I was happy at least until the age of 6, but that’s when my innocence and childhood was sickeningly ripped away from me by the first of many evil men and one woman who’s selfish aim was to steal the very soul of any child, alone and vulnerable enough to be drawn into their grasp...
(None of the predators were family members)
It wasn’t until I reached my early 40s when faced with a life-threatening trauma that I realised I’d never really had a happy childhood or even a stable adult life. I reached that realisation following some expertly administered therapy that I needed to help me recover from years of mental instability, alcoholism, depression and suicide attempts.
That is where I spent my early childhood learning how to survive the rigours of living in one of Britain’s most deprived areas in a house that shared an outside toilet with six other back-to-back terraced hovels.
This was also during a time when children like me were often left to get on with the business of growing up virtually alone while our parents went out to work for 12 hours a day in, truly, dark satanic mills, factories or coal mines.
However, I think I was still quite a happy child living the same life as all my friends and family who knew little about how green the grass may be in more affluent parts of the world, or even just within the small town where I lived?
I was happy at least until the age of 6, but that’s when my innocence and childhood was sickeningly ripped away from me by the first of many evil men and one woman who’s selfish aim was to steal the very soul of any child, alone and vulnerable enough to be drawn into their grasp...
(None of the predators were family members)
It wasn’t until I reached my early 40s when faced with a life-threatening trauma that I realised I’d never really had a happy childhood or even a stable adult life. I reached that realisation following some expertly administered therapy that I needed to help me recover from years of mental instability, alcoholism, depression and suicide attempts.
That's when I stopped being a victim and started being a survivor
Eddie, his sister and Granddad 1957.
Eddie's Lifelong Nightmares Started in 1957
Through the therapy, I learned to face up to the mistakes I had made and the pain I suffered. Then in my early 50’s I started to discover that the mistakes have made me smarter, the pain has made me stronger.
More importantly, I learned to spot damaged or lost innocence in those who may not yet know how their own childhood is being or has already been stolen from them.
So now I use my training and experience in delivering empathy and pathos via the art of my "Character Mime Performances" as a tool to help fix many broken young souls who I choose not to ignore.
In this way, I am happy to give them a glimpse into my own lost dreams, hoping they may eventually replace their nightmares with happy memories they never dreamed they could own.
Through the therapy, I learned to face up to the mistakes I had made and the pain I suffered. Then in my early 50’s I started to discover that the mistakes have made me smarter, the pain has made me stronger.
More importantly, I learned to spot damaged or lost innocence in those who may not yet know how their own childhood is being or has already been stolen from them.
So now I use my training and experience in delivering empathy and pathos via the art of my "Character Mime Performances" as a tool to help fix many broken young souls who I choose not to ignore.
In this way, I am happy to give them a glimpse into my own lost dreams, hoping they may eventually replace their nightmares with happy memories they never dreamed they could own.
The first part of the book, a trilogy, will be published in late 2025. - Pre-Launch enquiries; CONTACT
Part of the long lasting "Lost period" in Eddie's survival?
In short...
My youth was agonisingly lonely, in maturity I was tortured and disruptive, yet middle-age empowered me...
This life of mine has been one hell of a ride so far, even though I've spent a great part of it staring into the fiery jaws of those paedophile monsters who gnawed away at every fibre of my innermost soul.
But now I have finally reached Valhalla and I have built a safe and happy environment that I am proud to share with thousands of innocent children and hopefully with the remains of my own family before I reach my expiration date.
"Alas, not with the only true love of my life, Charlotte".
My youth was agonisingly lonely, in maturity I was tortured and disruptive, yet middle-age empowered me...
This life of mine has been one hell of a ride so far, even though I've spent a great part of it staring into the fiery jaws of those paedophile monsters who gnawed away at every fibre of my innermost soul.
But now I have finally reached Valhalla and I have built a safe and happy environment that I am proud to share with thousands of innocent children and hopefully with the remains of my own family before I reach my expiration date.
"Alas, not with the only true love of my life, Charlotte".
"If you never heal from what hurt you... You'll always bleed on people who didn't cut you".
Eddie spent most of his life running away from home?
The empty spaces were created before his adult body started its journey?
If you have been abused or are still being abused.
You probably just need a little help from someone who can listen to you and allow you to cry while you tell the darkest secrets you have been trained never to tell to anyone?
Child abuse can happen in different ways, and can include neglect as well as physical, emotional and sexual abuse. In many cases, people experience more than one type of abuse. Often, people abuse others because they want power and control over them. If you were abused as a child, it's important to remember that it’s not your fault or because of anything that you did. Abusive behaviour towards children is always wrong and never the child’s fault.
It's well-know that around one in four adults, both male and female, has experienced abuse as a child. Some find that with the support of their family and friends they are able to move on from their childhood abuse. But for many survivors, talking about the abuse to someone who is professional, caring and independent, from an organisation that helps survivors, such as Victim Support, is an essential step...
You probably just need a little help from someone who can listen to you and allow you to cry while you tell the darkest secrets you have been trained never to tell to anyone?
Child abuse can happen in different ways, and can include neglect as well as physical, emotional and sexual abuse. In many cases, people experience more than one type of abuse. Often, people abuse others because they want power and control over them. If you were abused as a child, it's important to remember that it’s not your fault or because of anything that you did. Abusive behaviour towards children is always wrong and never the child’s fault.
It's well-know that around one in four adults, both male and female, has experienced abuse as a child. Some find that with the support of their family and friends they are able to move on from their childhood abuse. But for many survivors, talking about the abuse to someone who is professional, caring and independent, from an organisation that helps survivors, such as Victim Support, is an essential step...