My name is Glodi Wabelua, and I am the founder of Glofitnessuk.

Glofitnessuk was inspired by my thoughts as I sat in a prison cell. Growing up in the UK as a child, I arrived here from Congo at the age of 5. Unable to speak English, I found school as a child extremely difficult whilst living in Forest Hill, Southeast London. I quickly learnt and adapted to the life I was exposed to. Being young and naive I ended up in prison at the age of 15, unbeknown to me that this would be a rollercoaster of a journey.

I was released from prison at 18, lost and impatient I didn’t learn anything. All I was left with was anxiety, trauma and PTSD not knowing what these words mean I did not know how to manage my feelings or control my thoughts. Returning to my neighbourhood I quickly fell back to what I knew best and unfortunately at the age of 20 I was back in prison until the age of 24 not realising the impact it’s had on my family. I wasn’t the little 15-year-old boy that went in, I was 20 now and looking at serious charges. My case was split into two resulting in me being released at 24 years of age and returning at 25 until the seventh month after my 28th birthday.

During my time in prison, I have travelled from South to the North of England going from prison to prison. I have met so many people if given the chance, they would have chosen a different path. Whilst being in prison the thing that got me through it all were my gym sessions. I lived and breathed for the gym. If I didn’t go to the gym, I found myself feeling anxious, depressed, jumpy, and paranoid. I did not like that feeling so when gym was cancelled, I worked out extra hard in my cell or on the exercise yard.

The older I got in prison the more I started to educate myself hungry for information and eager to learn. I passed my personal training course, so I had more knowledge on how my body works and how to train properly and effectively. I was training on the exercise yard and the guys used to ask me questions about the gym or ask to join my workouts, so I started running little circuit sessions in the exercise yard. What I found was interesting, the energy and the atmosphere was positive. You can say ‘we had forgotten we were in jail for a slight moment’. I started to wonder could there be a link with fitness and mental health. Statistics say that “It's a scientific fact that regular physical activity and exercise can make us healthier and happier.”

I was in HMP ****, and at that period the age limit went from 18 plus (any adult age) down to 18 – 21 years. I was 25 years old and all my peers who were my age group got transferred to other adult jails. However, I was told I needed to remain because it was a local release near my hometown (Lewisham). I found myself standing on the landing with new inmates who had arrived from different Young Offenders, looking at them reminded me of when I was 18 with thought of “how many of these boys would get recalled back into prison like I did.”

I completed my mentoring course a few months after and started planning Glofitnessuk – a fitness, mentoring and wellbeing project to support young people and young adults by sharing my lived experience and passion for fitness. Combining the two with the hope that it supports people’s mental health. I plan to work with other organisations, schools, prisons and charities to change mindsets and narratives of the next generation.