Recognising that our blended approach to recovery and the self-management of our own positive mental health could help others, we have created a social enterprise that provides and promotes physical activity, mindful relaxation and peer support and exchange as powerful tools of recovery, self-management and early intervention for common mental health issues, as well as overall wellbeing.
WELCOME TO SCOTLAND ALL-STRONG – A COMFORTABLE PLACE TO STEP OUTSIDE YOUR COMFORT ZONE!
I’ve been going to gyms since I was twelve and have been to gyms and training facilities across the world. I’ve never, however, been to one where the emphasis was on simply TRAINING TO FEEL BETTER, and to use that, along with other simple tools and strategies, to improve and then sustain positive mental health, building resilience and ability to cope in adversity, to feel better from any starting point, to have a reliable source of stress-relief as routine. No, it was always about being slimmer or stronger or more ripped – and that’s interesting, too, because it didn’t seem to be working for people, and nobody seemed to be tryng anything different.
IT’S NOT ABOUT THE NEW WORKOUT, EXERCISE, THE NEW DIET, THE EQUIPMENT, THE MAGIC FOOD TO EAT, THE ONE TO AVOID!
… IT’S ABOUT MINDSET and CONSISTENT EFFORT OVER TIME
and perhaps more importantly, HAVING THE RIGHT KIND OF SUPPORT AND ENVIRONMENT TO HELP YOU ACHIEVE THAT.
Yes, the correct exercises, workouts and nutrition for your goals is important, and we believe in delivering the highest quality workouts using an outstanding and wide range of effective and fun equipment that will keep you engaged and your body adapting, but that’s only surface details.
We also provide family-friendly services, including yoga for toddlers through to adults, and parent’s fitness, in which babies to school-age children enjoy supervised play while their parents train in the adjacent and visible area.
Throughout my mental health journeys, physical training has been an anchor that has held me back from the abyss. In recent years, I have found that mindful relaxation, including focused breathing and muscle relaxation, as well as peer discussion and support, have also been extremely beneficial. The combination of these three tools, while not presenting a cure, can, we believe, form the foundation of a self-management strategy.
Having seen many lives negatively impacted and cut short due to stress and common mental health conditions – and more so the often unhealthy choices made in reaction to them – we support those willing to take that tough first step by holding open a wide and welcoming door.
We launched with our social aims in mind as a partnership, but quickly sought advice and became incorporated as a not-for-profit community interest company. My wife and I launched our enterprise by ourselves, and were then very please pleased to be awarded the ‘Start It,’ grant from the Social Entrepreneurs Fund, delivered by Firstport in the month of our incorporation. We were awarded ‘Build It,’ in late 2019, and are very thankful to Firstport for their ongoing support.
WE AIM TO BE SCOTLAND’S NOT-FOR-PROFIT FITNESS & WELLBEING ENTERPRISE FOR MENTAL HEALTH & RECOVERY.
We will continue to develop our model to a place of financial sustainability, outstanding services with direct social impact, and replicate, expanding geographically and demographically.