The Driving Forces

Mark Donald

Mark has had his own experiences with Mental Health but his drive for bringing the iAM Project into life is from his mother.

Mark’s mum suffered badly with depression and through a cocktail of drugs prescribed to her to
ease her symptoms, her body slowly closed down and she died at the age of 55 missing many years of her life.

After watching this, Mark decided that although medication perhaps has a place, maybe there’s other ways.

They just take more efforts than prescribing a pill.

Exercise and sports have always been a catalyst to help Mark keep focus and a stability on life, family and work and it’s this he wants to help bring to others so they can readdress a balance.

Stephen McAuley

Stephen (Stevie) is a personal trainer based out of Ballymoney, Co. Antrim.

Growing up being involved in sport he has always been active and had a strong passion for exercise.

Through various life events Stevie struggled with depression and turned to alcohol as an escape route, he gave up the things he loved and fell into an endless cycle of comfort eating, making bad decisions and drinking to give a false sense of confidence!

Since then, he has turned his life around and made a career out of helping people live a better lifestyle and providing a platform for people to express themselves through exercise and movement and have someone to turn to for help when life gets tough! His overriding goal is to help as many people as possible and show that you are not alone out there and it’s never too late to turn it around!

Exercise saved his life… It became his passion, and working with the iAM Project, he hopes to be able to do the same for others who have lost their spark!

Gerd Curley

Gerd is a suicide survivor.  It took him 23 years to be able to openly tell people this.  He now runs a men’s group in Belfast to help men open up and talk about their mental health.

He often talks about his own mental health issues to school children and adults around the country. 

He has strong affiliations with the iAM project in many ways.  He was a founding part of the branding team and not only does he make the project look fantastic, he also uses his personal experiences to help steer our projects and ideas, helping others focus on their mental health and improving their outlook. 

He now takes life by the horns and is a full time employee in St Mary’s University College, Belfast, owns a number of enterprises and has just started his second clothing brand – www.gerdanthony.com

Cj Swaby (iAM Ambassador)

Cj Swaby is an internationally respected Resilience Coach with over twenty years experience.  In his lifetime he has faced his fair share of adversity, from hospitalisation due to  life threatening illness, to the tragic death of those he held dear to him. With each challenge, Cj used it as an opportunity to learn and grow, both as a human being, and as a coach. You can learn more about his story [HERE]  

As a Coach, Cj’s work centres around  the five pillars of health, and the principle belief that it’s “Your Body, Your Mind, Your Rules.” The five pillars are  mindset, training, nutrition, recovery and emotional mastery, whether personal coaching, workshops, public speaking or online coaching, Cj breaks it down clear ,simple and plain, so that you can practically apply it to your every day life.

Cj believes that you and I are far more powerful and capable than we realise. He also believes that while we can achieve extraordinary things as individuals, we are stronger together. As an advocate for mental health, Cj was a firm “yes” when his childhood friend, Mark Donald set up the iAM Project and invited him to be an ambassador.

W: www.cjswaby.com
Insta:@Cjmswaby
FBK: Cj M Swaby

Kaelan Killough (iAM Ambassador)

Kaelan has always been a highly active person, playing several different sports growing up. He has just completed a course in Level 2 in Fitness Instructing, and is going on to complete his Level 3 in Personal Training with the goal of furthering his qualifications into more specific avenues of fitness training. 

For many years Kaelan has had an ongoing battle with his mental health, although he was not certain what exactly it was that was wrong with him, he always knew there was something not quite right in his head.

Only in recent years after reaching out for help, he discovered he has been dealing with depression, anxiety, and Bi-polar disorder. 

Fitness is now Kaelan’s biggest passion and he honestly believes it is the reason he is here today.

The connection between mental wellbeing and fitness is so important and he wants to help other people find the same connection he did between the two. It is also why he did not hesitate in saying yes to becoming an iAM ambassador. 

“You are just ONE workout away from a better mood”

Insta: @KaelanKilloughFitness

Russell Benham (iAM Ambassador)

Russell has always studied martial arts, commencing with boxing at the age of 11 years of age and moving into kickboxing and Thai boxing.

For him it wasn’t just the release of the activity, but the science and structure in learning that impassioned him.

He then found his love for Wing Chun Kung Fu in 1999 and from there, he has risen through the ranks in those years to become a 7th PG. The highest graded instructor in the WCKUK organisation.

13 years ago with the sudden death of his mother, Russell realised the importance of phyical activity on his mindset.

Kung Fu helped Russell to focus, to maintain discipline and also to help him find balance again to cope with the loss of his mum. 

He has a drive to help others, and understands the importance of structure and study and bettering ones self. 

Support is a massive factor for Russell and he encourages unity and understanding in all of his classes. 

“One arrow alone can be easily broken, but many arrows are indestructible.”

Insta: @SifuRuss_WCKUK

Victoria Kennnedy (iAM Ambassador)

Victoria has a strong view that exercise is great for the mind and body. Having competed internationally for Great Britain and Northern Ireland at major events in 400mh and 4x400m, Victoria has had the highs and lows of sport.

This included silver at World Junior Championships in 400mh (1996) and bronze in European championships at 4x400m (1998) and then in 2001 having to take the decision to retire due to ongoing injuries knowing then that the Olympic dream was not to be.

She has worked within sports development for over 20 years until two years ago when she decided to train as a Yoga Teacher having attended classes to relieve stress from everyday life. Yoga was an instant relief to the mind by setting an affirmation, exercising with intent, breathe work and ensuring relaxation was included.

These were key to her mind shifting.

Victoria has been teaching yoga for two years now and delivers a weekly class in the Newtownards area. She has delivered three classes to the ‘I am project’ over the last couple of years. One in person and two Zoom classes.

These classes help people realise that they are enough. Her mantra ‘I am Enough’ is clear in her teachings.

You can find more information at www.amareyogabyvictoria.com or follow Victoria on Facebook or Instagram ‘Amare Yoga by Victoria’