I am an ex-ballet dancer, exercise physiologist, ex-prisoner and occasional humour enthusiast. I am Founder of red rehabilitation and red:redemption CIC. I founded the latter after I found myself imprisoned for four months in 2022. With gallows humour and self-harm being the only currency available to counter the horrific caging of humans for 23 hours per day, and in the absence of meaningful activity, I started to teach exercise to the other inmates in the hope of keeping us all sane (and alive).

After my release I researched the schools-to-prison pipeline and conducted my first cohort study with a group of adolescents identified as at risk of self-harm or self-medication by their GP. Our current treatment pathways of pharmacology and talking therapies are expensive, inefficient and come with long waiting lists. Exercise bolsters both physical and mental health, with low to no adverse effects. And it's free.

I hope to change the landscape of how we manage the mental health of our adolescent population by moving their bodies from the neck down, so that they understand that they may control themselves from the neck up.