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- So yesterday it came out that Prince William,
who is the future King of England,
has stated that we are currently in the midst
of a mental health catastrophe
and that's gonna continue if lockdowns
keep people from socialising
and this is a man who's been very public
about his own struggles with depression when he lost
his mother, Princess Diana,
in a horrible traffic accident,
that was actually when I first came to England
and this is something that's very serious and we need
to really consider the mental health
of our citizens and our young people.
According to a survey, when lockdown started
over 70,000 people here in Britain, one in 10
said they had suicidal thoughts during the lockdown
and that doubles if they are unemployed,
it also doubles if they are 18 to 24 years old,
our young people are facing real challenges right now,
they're in danger of becoming a lost generation
if we keep these lockdowns going
and that's why today on the show I'm welcoming
Nick Whitcombe, who runs Body Tech gym up in Liverpool
and he has been in a very public fight
against the government to keep gyms open
to ensure our mental health,
I cannot stress how important this is
as someone who trains every single day
for my own mental health and I've struggled with that
in the past.
This is such an important service.
According to the Lancet Medical Journal,
esteemed medical journal ,
exercising three times a week can lower depression by 43%
and we've been supporting our brothers
and sisters in the North, as they fight back against these
ridiculous tier 3 lockdowns
and also the closing of their gyms
and Nick was faced with five armed police officers this week
at his gym, trying to shut him down,
they give him a 1,000 pound fine,
they try to give them a 2,000 pound fine
and he has been all over the news trying,
fighting to get his gym to stay open
because it's so important to his mental health
and I understand this more than anyone.
I've had guests on the show that say things
like the body is the mind
and this is something we must invest in,
for our young people, for everything
because our mental health is everything in this country
and in this city, the 9 million citizens are suffering now,
the lockdown is really putting pain on everyone
and when you take people's livelihoods away from them,
when you take their jobs away from them,
the next thing that comes is their mental health.
It starts to deteriorate and it's happening in London
right now with our 9 million citizens
who are effectively completely locked down
because a tier 2 lockdown is the same as a tier 3,
because all of the rules are muddled.
Look, we lack leadership.
We lack a proportional response to the virus
and we lack science-based decision making
and we are gonna pay for it with our mental health
in this country, with a lost generation of our young people
and we've gotta get serious about this now,
so I'm excited to speak to Nick.
We'll be talking at 5:00 PM live today
and I've gotta really salute him
for fighting tooth and nail, putting his business
on the line, his reputation on the line and going up in the,
up against the government.
It looks like they've been successful in keeping gyms open
and these tier 3 lockdowns in the North,
we've gotta fight back for things that we know are right.
We've gotta stop listening to these career politicians
with their vested interests
and their own interests at stake, that's all I see.
They're not really thinking about the citizens they serve
and that's what we need from our leadership,
so, I'm super excited to talk to Nick tonight,
tune in and again make sure you get
the physical exercise you need
for your mental health.
I post videos all the time of me swimming and weightlifting
and break dancing and hand balancing,
because I think it's so important that we stay active,
especially in these times
and especially as we go into winter.
So, Nick, I salute you, I'm looking forward to having you
on the show brother, today,
please tune in at five o'clock and hear his story,
it's an incredible one.
We all need to fight back against what is obvious
wrong decisions from our government.
Let's get some leadership, let's get a proportional response
so we can keep our gyms, keep our hospitality sectors,
but lockdown that are those that are most vulnerable,
and let's also have some science-based solutions.
Out of 22 million gym visits this year,
78 of those resulted in a COVID case,
78 out of 22 million, that's 0.35 per 100,000 visits
and only 1.7% of COVID transmissions
according to Public Health England data
are happening in gyms.
So why close them down in the first place?
Hospitality is 3.3%, why close those down?
Especially when there are people's livelihood,
the mental health is at stake.
Obviously I'm emotional about this
because these are my people.
You know, I feel connected to the community,
I feel connected to this country I call home.
I feel connected to the 9 million people in London,
I've been serving them for the past nine years
on London Real, and we've gotta do more,
we've gotta do more for us citizens
because I'm not satisfied.
We need to take London in a new direction
and that's the plan going forward.
So thank you, leave your comments below.
Tell me is going to the gym important
for your mental health?
Do you think these lockdown measures are justified?
Do we need the new leadership?
Leave your comments below.
I read them all and I'll see you tonight
when we speak to Nick Whitcombe on London Real, thank you.
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