About Us

Keith Ward

In 2005 I was diagnosed with stage 3 Hodgkins Lymphoma. I was 20 years old with a 6 month old daughter and my partner (now wife!), had just been diagnosed with Multiple Schlirosis. Following my diagnosis, I was advised to try and keep physically active to help me get through my Chemotherapy.

I joined a local gym/health club with the intention of starting my new routine. Following an in depth meeting with a personal trainer, we headed for the treadmill. I was told to warm up for 20 minutes by running as fast as I can! (Maybe not the best advice for someone that has just started Chemo!). At the time, I thought nothing of it as I was used to this type of training.

My trainer disappeared and I started to run. It wasn’t long before I started to feel light headed and seeing spots. I stepped off the treadmill and began to lose my balance. Panic set in! After a couple of minutes my trainer appeared, non the wiser. I told what had happened and asked for a drink of water. To which he responded by telling me there was a water fountain at the other side of the gym, followed by, “I think we should give the weights room a miss.” He then said bye and left me.

After 12 months of Chemotherapy I was lucky enough to have beaten Cancer! However I still Look back to that day at the gym and feel I am luckier than I realise. No one should ever have to go through that! But I did however learn that keeping myself active through other means helped to save my life!

So I set out to create tailored physical activity programmes for people diagnosed with Cancer. This quickly developed into using the same style of sports and exercise to engage with a wide range of people from different walks of life. Over the last 18 years, I have worked in many settings;

• Mental Health Services – Both outreach and in secure facilities
• Cancer patients – Adults and children
• Deprived communities – Areas of the city with high crime and anti social behaviour rates.
• Young people at risk of gang involvement
• Young people in gangs

Over the years I have been able to share my story on a couple of occasions. I received a lot of support from people that took the time to send me messages. It also showed me how sharing also helped other people. Whether they know someone going through similar or they are going through it themselves. It gave others hope that someone going through cancer or starting their journey can do things to keep their body as strong as possible. It helped a lot of young people that though life was over, to go out and keep moving!

I hope to be able to use this platform to help people share their stories as well as my own