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Stephen Gammack - Passionate About Helping Others
NAME: Stephen Gammack
AGE: 38 LOCATION: Dundee, UK Physical Activity Worker I grew up on the East Coast of Scotland, a life filled with fresh air and adventures. From a young age I always loved exercise and movement and it would take up every part of my childhood; playtimes at school, after school sports, kicking a ball around with friends and enjoying the long summer days Scotland has to offer.
At 17 I finished my final year at school and was undecided about my future. I enrolled in a Leisure and Recreation course and never looked back. Health and Sports has been my career and my passion ever since and I enjoyed studying a Sports Therapy Diploma and then a BSc in Exercise Science.
I have worked with people from all ages and all backgrounds, and over time I have learned just how little we as a society really know about, or are willing to consider, how we care for our bodies.
The industry of leisure and fitness is surrounded with an intensity that is far beyond the easy reach of most people. It detracts from the pleasure of moving and the fun that we can have when we express through fitness.
My career has involved working with children (Active Schools), older adults (Active Ageing), Exercise Referral (in New Zealand), University Sport, and Early Years Families from deprived backgrounds. My experience spans all age ranges and abilities, but my objective has been consistent - get people moving more and enjoying the health benefits of physical activity.
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I have always cared deeply about people and their welfare, and I am always very aware of how others might be feeling. This care is one of my richest qualities, I can be in a room full of people, yet still be ensuring everyone is looked after.
This care for people inspires me to spend my time volunteering; I enjoy coaching swimming, providing strength and conditioning sessions for local sports and community clubs and work with a number of online initiatives to promote this new approach to exercise to people around the world. I am also a qualified masseuse and Esoteric Healing practitioner, and offer sessions to family and friends to help them restore true movement to their bodies.
Enjoying movement is vastly different to competitive sport, and even when I used to compete, I could feel it wasn’t right. I was fairly successful during my time as a triathlete but winning never satisfied, and my body thanked me when I stopped.
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I was part of a team that won a national award in 2013, the UK Public Service Awards in the ‘Health and Wellbeing’ category for the Aberdeen Golden Games: a festival of physical activity for over 65s. That was satisfying to achieve though secondary to the joy I get from everyday moments.
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There is nothing I love more than a meal with a group of friends or a deep and loving conversation with my girlfriend on the couch. I started life as a shy, reserved young boy but I have grown into a gregarious and fun-loving man with a deep-lived passion for helping others.
In my work I always emphasise that it is about you enjoying being you, and no goal, win or success can exceed the satisfaction of living just that.
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