Virtual Wellbeing Festival Archive

Virtual Wellbeing Festival 2022 - Headliner Session - Dr Amir Khan

Dr Amir Khan is a full time NHS GP working in inner city Bradford, and resident GP on ITV Good Morning Britain and Lorraine.

Dr Amir’s passions outside of medicine include wildlife conservation and he is the first Ambassador for The National Wildlife Trusts and The Butterfly Conservation Society, working closely with them to ensure access to green spaces for inner city children and spreading the word on how being outside with nature is good for your health.

In this session, Dr Amir addresses a tough two and a half years and continuing challenges across the health and social care sector as we battle the repercussions of the pandemic. But while colleagues care for others, it is vital that they also care for themselves. Self-care does not need to be self indulgent; it should not be associated with guilt – it is something everyone needs to prioritise. Dr Amir will share his tips on how to put your wellbeing first (without the guilt) and simple every day strategies that can be incorporated into daily routines to connect everybody back with the wellbeing effects of nature, movement and nutrition.

This session is now available on demand. Please use the password: VWBF22

[The duration of this video is 1 hour and 10 minutes]

We hope you've enjoyed Virtual Wellbeing Festival 2022 as much as we have! Any feedback you can provide about the event is really appreciated - please tell us what you think about any of our Festival sessions by completing the short feedback form here.

Virtual Wellbeing Festival 2022 - Headline Session - Dr Michael Mosley 

Dr Michael Mosley is a trained doctor and popular TV broadcaster.

Michael’s programmes on exercise (The Truth About Exercise) and diet (Eat, Fast & Live Longer) have produced much popular and media discussion as he examined the benefits of short, high-intensity exercise and fasting for two days a week.

He has received a host of BAFTA and Emmy nominations and been named Medical Journalist of the Year by the British Medical Association.

This session is now available on demand. To access, please use the password: VWBF22

[The duration of this video is 1 hour and 10 minutes]

We hope you've enjoyed Virtual Wellbeing Festival 2022 as much as we have! Any feedback you can provide about the event is really appreciated - please tell us what you think about any of our Festival sessions by completing the short feedback form here.

Virtual Wellbeing Festival 2022 - Headline Session - Mr Motivator

Derrick Errol Evans (Mr Motivator) was born in Jamaica but has lived most of his life in the UK.

His big break came on the 23 August 1993. He was later credited with turning around the fortunes of the Breakfast Television Show GMTV.

Providing mass workouts for varying charities and schools – with his unique way of exercising – has meant that he is in great demand, which continues to lead to numerous television, film and radio appearances.

This session is now available on demand. To access, please use the password: VWBF22

[The duration of this video is 1 hour]

We hope you've enjoyed Virtual Wellbeing Festival 2022 as much as we have! Any feedback you can provide about the event is really appreciated - please tell us what you think about any of our Festival sessions by completing the short feedback form here.

Virtual Wellbeing Festival 2022 - Headliner Session - Nicola Adams OBE

Nicola Adams will join the wellbeing festival to discuss her own experiences, including her drive and determination in overcoming adversity, throughout her professional and personal life.

Nicola is a retired double Olympic gold medallist, WBO World Champion and Great Britain’s most successful boxer of all time. Nicola was named the most influential LGBT person in Britain by The Independent and continues to be driving voice in the sports and boxing community.

In this session, Nicola discusses her own experiences, including her drive and determination in overcoming adversity, in her professional and personal life. 

This session is now available on demand. Use the password: VWBF22

We hope you've enjoyed Virtual Wellbeing Festival 2022 as much as we have! Any feedback you can provide about the event is really appreciated - please tell us what you think about any of our Festival sessions by completing the short feedback form here.

Virtual Wellbeing Festival 2022 - Headliner Session - Samantha Clarke

Samantha Clarke's passions are a melting pot of psychology, philosophy, technology, happiness, wellbeing, cultures and people. 

This session is all about taking time to pause and reflect. Samantha focuses on what can be done differently to support wellbeing, especially in the work place. As well as this, she explains how to support others through continued uncertainty.

This session is now available on demand. To access the content, please use the password: VWBF22

[The duration of this video is 55 minutes]

We hope you've enjoyed Virtual Wellbeing Festival 2022 as much as we have! Any feedback you can provide about the event is really appreciated - please tell us what you think about any of our Festival sessions by completing the short feedback form here.

 

Virtual Wellbeing Festival 2021 - Headliner Session - Amazin LeThi

Amazin shares her personal journey of homelessness to becoming one of the most visible and influential LGBTQ+ advocates in the world.

Born in Saigon where she was left in an orphanage by her mother, Amazin is a transracial adoptee growing up in an all white background. She was bullied constantly as a young child and it was because of this she went into bodybuilding at the tender age of 6, going onto become a competitive bodybuilder in her teens and then qualifying as a strength and conditioning coach.

Amazin LeThi is a global Vietnamese LGBTQ+ sports and human rights advocate and thought leader. Amazin worked her way to the top with achievements that include, a former competitive bodybuilder, entertainment executive and the first Vietnamese internationally published fitness author. She has captured audiences with her story from the United Nations to Google and governments from around the world.

As a thought leader and through conversations, panel discussions and Q&As, Amazin shares her personal journey of homelessness to becoming one of the most visible and influential LGBTQ+ activists in the world. Her story was included in the ‘It Gets Better’ campaign and the first White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Asian anti-bullying campaign ‘Act to Change’.

GLAAD and NQAPIA have recognized Amazin for her contribution in accelerating LGBTQ+ sports equality and she has been listed in many mainstream articles for her contribution, these include, Australian Pride Power List, Out 100 List, Human Rights Campaign – Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month Honours list, 2020 Go Magazine 100 Women We Love List and 2020 Global Changemakers. In 2014, Amazin became the first Asian Athlete Ally ambassador and at the end of 2019 became the first Stonewall UK sports champion ambassador. She is also a global ambassador for Vietnam Relief Services.

Amazin has been invited to launch, campaign and run global advocacy projects with governments and human rights campaign groups. In 2019, her work included the launch of both projects below in collaboration with the LGBTQ+ Institute at the National Centre for Civil and Human Rights in Atlanta.

• The first Asian Pride in the USA in Washington DC presented by the Capital Pride Alliance and the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs
• The first Asian LGBTQ Southern Voices event in Georgia and UN LGBTQ Business Standards for the entire southern region of the USA with the UN.

In 2020, Amazin became the first Asian LGBTQ+ Athlete to be honoured at the Brooklyn Nets 4th Annual Pride Night at the Barclays Centre in Brooklyn with the ‘Game Ball Delivery’.

During Pride Month 2020, Amazin partnered with (The Advocate) to host the first Pride Month Asian LGBTQ+ voices Instagram live series; her guests included out Asian Hollywood actors: B.D Wong, Leo Sheng, Leonardo Nam, Rain Valdez and Jake Choi. She was also part of the first 24-hour Global Pride 2020.

In 2021, Amazin launched the Amazin LêThi Foundation with a flagship programme to support and address LGBTQ+ youth experiencing homelessness through leadership and development using sports as the platform for change.

To access Amazin's session, please use the password: Wellbeing21

[The duration of this video is 1 hour and 5 minutes]

Virtual Wellbeing Festival 2021 - Headliner Session - Andy Cope

Andy Cope describes himself as a qualified teacher, author, happiness expert and learning junkie. He has spent the last 10 years studying positive psychology, happiness and flourishing, culminating in a Loughborough University PhD thesis.

Andy Cope appreciates that his ‘Dr of Happiness’ label is terribly cheesy but it affords him an important media platform. In times of rising depression and an epidemic of ‘busyness’, Andy believes there has never been a more appropriate time to raise the happiness agenda.

He is a best-selling author, having written books such as ‘The Art of Being Brilliant’, ‘Be Brilliant Everyday’ and ‘The Art of Being a Brilliant Teenager’ (Capstone), which address how to be a happier, more motivated and positive person. He has penned a series for Crown House aimed at teachers, and also moonlights as a children’s author. Andy’s research feeds into a training course called ‘The Art of Being Brilliant’ which has been delivered to rave reviews all over the world.

He has a passion for motivation and positive psychology and is trying to influence people to think differently in order to be happier.

Andy has worked with some very large businesses, including Microsoft, DHL, Pirelli, Pfizer, Hewlett Packard, Astra Zeneca and IKEA. Recently, he has tailored his workshops to meet the needs of children and teachers and now delivers to audiences from age eight upwards!

To access Andy's session, please use the password: Wellbeing21

[The duration of this video is 1 hour and 10 minutes]

Virtual Wellbeing Festival 2021 - Headliner Session - Dan Cross and Efrem Brynin

Dan Cross and Efrem Brynin of Channel 4’s SAS Who Dares Wins talk about recovery from mental health issues.

The pair are the founders of the bereavement support charity StrongMen, where they use the synergy between good physical and mental health to aid recovery. Both men have endured significant loss and remain passionate about using their experiences to help others by focusing on fitness, nutrition, resilience and the bond created by people suffering the same loss, ultimately that brotherhood is the foundation of StrongMen.

To access Dan and Efrem's session, please use the password: Wellbeing21

[The duration of this video is 1 hour and 30 minutes]

Dan Cross

In 2015, Dan lost his wife to murder and subsequently suffered immeasurably with mental health issues.

Alongside suffering from grief, he was also diagnosed with anxiety, depression & PTSD. In order to recover from these conditions, he used physical exercise to help disperse build-up of adrenaline and stress levels.

Going to the gym was useful, but it was when he trained in the outdoors that he noticed the biggest impact on his mood and outlook. In addition to this he noticed something more. Whilst exercising inside in a gym, Dan would open up a little to his training partner about how he was feeling, but when he trained outside in the wild, they couldn’t shut him up! Dan was able to focus on the outdoors and the exercise in hand and in doing so, found himself talking about what was going on in his head. Not only that, the focus on the physical training helped push out intrusive, negative memories and thoughts he was having due to the PTSD symptoms he was suffering from even if it was just for that hour or two that he was working out.

But, that break from the constant mental hammering I was taking was invaluable. It’s this experience Dan hopes to share via the “StrongMen” project and in turn help others going through the grieving process. Dan’s opinion is that doing positive things to help others is a massive part of recovering and healing. In 2018 he appeared as recruit 13 on Channel 4’s “SAS who dares wins”, where he met “Ollie Ollerton” who has been a friend and mentor since meeting him. The SAS who dares wins experience was truly amazing and educated Dan on how quickly you can form a close bond with people you don’t know in just a few hours when you have a common connection against adversity. This was another deciding factor in the birth of “StrongMen”.

Professionally, Dan has had a long career in IT telecoms operations and serves as a Trustee for the child bereavement charity “Nikki’s Wishes” which he founded in memory of Nikki. In 2018, Dan was delighted to receive a Heart FM hero award for fundraising. Personally, he has an amazing family and group of friends who he could never even begin to repay for the love, care and support they showed me and my children through the very worst of times.

I sincerely hope that the creation of “StrongMen” is the start of something new, innovative and effective in helping men to talk about their mental struggles while learning the benefits of looking after yourself physically and the importance of connecting with people of similar experience to aid the recovery from a bereavement and the related stresses and conditions this can cause.

Efrem Brynin

Born and raised in Sussex, Efrem has a keen interest in most sports, particularly football, cricket and motorsport.

He loves being outdoors and active whether with his dogs, family, friends or just myself. Since he was 16 he has played the guitar in local bands and has a deep love of music, rock music in particular.

Efrem’s story starts in Singapore during the spring of 2013, sitting his wife in complete peace, his life was in complete balance. Just six months later everything had changed, that life he had loved was over. Efrem’s son, James, was killed on his second tour of Afghanistan. In the immediate aftermath and to this day Efrem has, and still experiences, the very worst imaginable emotions. Since James died, he has been diagnosed, treated for and is currently in remission for Prostate Cancer, so it’s been a really tough few years.

During 2016 Efrem was lucky enough to play the part of Recruit #11 in Channel 4’s SAS Who Dares Wins, filmed on location in the jungles of Ecuador. Not only was this a truly unique and incredible experience, it almost certainly saved his life, as he first experienced the symptoms that led to his eventual cancer diagnosis 12 months later. It is also as a result of this programme that Efrem got to know Matthew ‘Ollie’ Ollerton and subsequently Dan Cross, which eventually led them here to StrongMen.

The never ending process of bereavement of somebody close to you is unique to all who have experienced it. Each of us have different relationships and dynamics, however, much of that experience is shared. To be able to provide the opportunity for people with similar experiences to reconnect with the outdoors, and share the comfort of those that have, and continue to “walk the walk” is something that not only excites Efrem, but also helps him to continue my healing process.

Virtual Wellbeing Festival 2021 - Headliner Session - Gareth Thomas

Gareth Thomas was the first Welsh player to reach 100 caps and is one of the most iconic and respected figures in world rugby. Thomas’s career began in a small youth club in Bridgend, and has since rocketed into the stratospheres, with his 1995 hat-trick debut for Wales marking the beginning of an exceptional international career.

He was captain of Wales’ Grand Slam winning team in 2005, and also captained the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand that year. In 2005, he was named BBC Wales Sports Personality of the Year in recognition of his unique standing.

In March 2010 Gareth Thomas made a brave switch to Rugby League where he spent two seasons with the Crusaders in March 2010. His performances were nothing short of remarkable and he earned six Wales Rugby League caps and four tries. In 2011 Thomas announced his retirement from the game.

Thomas’s personal life hit the headlines in December 2009 when he famously revealed to the world that he was gay. This iconic revelation made him the first high profile sportsman in the world to come out as gay whilst still playing. Whilst he never downplays the significance of this achievement, he hopes to see a day when it is no longer an issue in the game at all.

Thomas has been regular speaker on the corporate circuit, addressing LGBT issues with the same vigour and enthusiasm with which he approached his playing career.

In 2019 Gareth Thomas further inspired when he announced that he is living with HIV. His revelation was welcomed as an important step in breaking down stigma and helping the world better understand the subject.

To access Gareth's session, please use the password: Wellbeing21

[The duration of this video is 1 hour and 15 minutes]

HEADLINER: Ruby Wax

After three decades working on stage, television and radio, Ruby Wax has recently changed direction. The former entertainer is now an expert on psychology, human behaviour and communication. She is also one of the most sought after speakers on mental health and mindfulness.

Ruby Wax began her TV career writing and starring in 'Girls on Top' with French and Saunders and Tracey Ullman. Ruby went on to write and perform for both the BBC and Channel 4 for over 25 years in her own hugely popular television programmes including 'Don’t Miss Wax', 'Wax on Wheels', 'Hit and Run', 'The Full Wax', 'Hot Wax', and 'Ruby Wax with…' in which she performed memorable interviews with major celebrities such as Donald Trump, Imelda Marcos, Madonna, OJ Simpson, Goldie Hawn, Jim Carrey, Ben Stiller and many others. Among her many award-winning documentaries are 'Miami Memoirs', 'East Meets Wax', 'Ruby Takes a Trip', 'Class of ’69', 'Ruby Wax Meets' and 'Ruby’s American Pie'.

On stage, Ruby has been directed by Alan Rickman in her own one-woman shows.  These range from 'Wax Acts' and 'Stressed' in the late 1990’s through to the more recent 'Losing It', 'Sane New World' (directed by Thea Sharrock) and 'Frazzled' which she has taken all over the UK and Australia as well as to the United States, Cape Town and London’s West End.

Ruby has studied Psychotherapy and gained her Master’s degree in Mindfulness-based Cognitive Behavioural Therapy from Oxford University. She is also a TedTalk Global speaker and awarded an OBE for her services to mental health.

Ruby’s books, 'How Do You Want Me?', 'Sane New World' and 'A Mindfulness Guide for the Frazzled' and have topped the Sunday Times Bestseller’s lists and been published all over the world. Ruby’s latest book How to be Human – The Manual was written with the help of a monk and a neuroscientist, the book asks the thorny question: in a world that is increasingly online and beholden to technology, what is it that makes us truly human?  We can’t stop the future from arriving, no matter what drugs we’re on. But even if nearly every part of us becomes robotic, we’ll still, fingers crossed, have our minds, which, hopefully, we’ll be able to use for things like compassion, rather than chasing what’s ‘better’ and if we can do that we’re on the yellow brick road to happiness. 'How to be Human' is the only manual you’ll need to help you upgrade your mind as much as you’ve upgraded your iPhone.

In 2016 Ruby received an OBE for her services to mental health.

To access Ruby's session, please use the password: Wellbeing21

[The duration of this video is 1 hour and 5 minutes]

Headliner: Clarke Carlisle

Clarke Carlisle football career began when he made his debut for Blackpool in September 1997, before moving to Queens Park Rangers in 2000. He then had spells at Leeds United and Watford and Burnley, before finishing his career at Northampton Town FC. Experiencing the highs and lows of professional sport, he has won promotion with both Blackpool and Burnley, represented England and has played at the prestigious Wembley Stadium. However, in 2001 Clarke suffered a posterior cruciate ligament injury which almost ended his career.

A prominent face in football, even since his retirement in 2013, he was formerly the PFA Chairman and the first current, at the time, professional footballer to appear on BBC’s Question Time, as well as appearing on three episodes of Channel 4’s prime-time quiz show Countdown.

Known for his eloquence and candour, Clarke has spoken openly about the depression which has dogged most of his adult life. Publicly discussing his mental health struggles and attempted suicide has put Clarke in a position of influence to aid the breakdown of the stigma around the subject.

Clarke is an ambassador for the Kick It Out scheme; a scheme that campaigns for inclusion and equality in football, and has authored two documentaries, “Football’s Suicide Secret” and the critically acclaimed “Is Football Racist?”, alongside penning his autobiography.

To access Clarke's session, please use the password: Wellbeing20

[The duration of this video is 1 hour and 35 minutes]

Headliner: Colin Maclachlan

Colin Maclachlan is a former SAS soldier with over 25 years of security and risk related experience, best known for appearing in Channel 4’s SAS: Who Dares Wins and Channel 5’s Secrets of the SAS.

Colin was involved in some of the most high profile and daring SAS missions in recent time. Only a handful of men have been involved in hostage negotiations, hostage rescue and been a hostage themselves and Colin is one of them.

On one mission, Colin waded through swamps in Sierra Leone to hunt down the ‘West Side Boys‘, a guerrilla gang holding 11 British soldiers hostage. It was a mission so dangerous they nicknamed it ‘Operation Certain Death’ – it’s real name was Operation Barras. The SAS teams secured the hostages’ building and neutralised any West Side Boys.

Maclachlan was also the first sniper on the scene when a hijacked flight with 180 passengers landed at Stansted. Sparking a four-day stand-off, it was the longest standing hostage siege on UK soil to date. Four years later, Colin found himself on the other side of a rescue mission after he was taken hostage in Basra. Blindfolded, battered and stripped naked, he had a gun pressed to his head and the trigger pulled, as his captors held mock executions. Colin only survived long enough for British troops to rescue him because the terrorists wanted to film his suffering in a propaganda video before they executed him.

Colin left the SAS shortly after completing an exchange programme with Delta Force and Seal Team 6, and has since provided security consultancy for the Saudi Royal Family, Celebrities and US Media Networks.

To access Colin's session, please use the password: Wellbeing20

[The duration of this video is 1 hour and 20 minutes]

Headliner: Colonel Dame Kelly Holmes

Double Olympic Champion Col Dame Kelly Holmes is one of the UK’s most popular athletes, respected throughout the world as a role model and an inspiration. She approaches her talks in a style that is eloquent and humorous, as well as being an effortless speaker who explains how techniques she has learnt on the track can be applied to all areas of life. Kelly has recently been made honorary Colonel of the British Army, this is a huge honour as she’s the first British female to ever receive this award.

Setting and still holding the British records in the 600m, 800m and 1000m, Col Dame Kelly Holmes is an Olympic, Commonwealth and European champion that has achieved seven Gold, eight Silver and four Bronze medals throughout her career. This includes her double win in the 800m and 1500m at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, becoming the first Briton in over 80 years to do so. After her Olympic success, she won BBC Sports Personality of the Year, European Athlete of the Year and was honoured with a Damehood from the Queen.

But, before Col Dame Kelly started winning gold medals, her career was overshadowed by injury and disappointment. She draws on how she found the determination and dedication to overcome this in her talks and she emphasises that we can all overcome our hardships, especially in the workplace, just as she did.

Dame Kelly’s recent speech at the Businesswoman of the Year Awards was awarded a standing ovation and there is one common theme that runs through her feedback – inspirational. When she founded her Trust, Col Dame Kelly Holmes set out to help young lives get back on track. In her talks, she encourages the same philosophy – nothing is impossible.

She uses vital information from her life as a physical training instructor in the British Army, as well as her athletics career and role as The National School Sport Champion, to bring about effective team building sessions that are motivational, empowering and highlight the importance of sport and making sure you look after yourself.

[The duration of this video is 1 hour and 15 minutes]

Headliner: Dr Rangan Chatterjee

Dr Rangan Chatterjee is regarded as one of the most influential doctors in the UK.  A practising GP for the last two decades and resident BBC Breakfast doctor, Dr Chatterjee wants to inspire people to transform their health and happiness through making small, sustainable changes to their lifestyles.  Leading the charge on how healthcare and medicine is understood in the UK.  Dr Chatterjee recent co-created the ‘prescribing Lifestyle medicine’ course with the Royal College of GP’s, that has now been delivered to almost 1000 doctors and healthcare professionals.

Dr Chatterjee hosts the #1 iTunes podcast Feel Better, Live More which is one of apples most downloaded new podcasts.  He is presenter of BBC1’s Doctor in the House and his TED talk, How to make Diseases Disappear has now been viewed over 2 million times.

To access Dr Rangan's session, please use the password: Wellbeing20

[The duration of this video is 1 hour and 10 minutes]

Headliner: Steve Backshall

Steve is an adventurer, natural history TV Presenter, public speaker and author. He is One of television’s busiest presenters, BAFTA award-winning wildlife expert Steve Backshall, has been passionate about the wild world ever since he could crawl.

2019 was a busy and exciting year for Steve with the publication of his book Expedition: Adventures Into Undiscovered Worlds being published alongside his brand new 10 part TV Expedition series which is being broadcast on UKTV Dave every Sunday night this Summer. Steve has also presented Hedgehog A&E with Brian May on Channel 5 and co-presented Blue Planet Live in March 2019 on BBC One with Liz Bonnin and Chris Packham.

Steve’s previous credits include the hugely successful Wild Alaska Live (BBC One, PBS) and Hedgehog A&E (Channel 5). Steve received critical acclaim for his canoeing expedition of one of the world’s wildest rivers, the Baliem in New Guinea, for Down The Mighty River with Steve Backshall (BBC Two). Previous to this, Steve was on our screens in the two-part series Extreme Mountain Challenge (BBC Two) and Fierce (ITV).

In 2016 Steve co-presented the hugely successful series Big Blue Live (BBC One, PBS) live from Monterey, California. He also completed an expedition to Venezuela on behalf of the BBC as well a set of performances on Strictly Come Dancing (BBC One). Steve also fronts the CBBC Deadly series’, travelling the world to film Deadly Pole to Pole, Deadly 60, Live and Deadly, Deadly 360, Deadly on a Mission and most recently, Backshall’s Deadly Adventures.

In 2011 Steve was recognised with a BAFTA award for The Best Children’s Television Presenter for his work on Deadly 60, as well as the series itself being honoured with a BAFTA for The Best Factual Series.

Steve is an old-fashioned action hero whose leisure pursuits include mountaineering, kayaking, scuba diving, martial arts and endurance running, which together with his unsurpassed wildlife knowledge, make him a compelling and motivational speaker for a multitude of audiences.

To access Steve's session, please use the password: Wellbeing20

[The duration of this video is 1 hour and 15 minutes]