Wakefield: 'I'm a recovering addict and now I'm helping others get clean through fitness'
A personal trainer and recovering addict from Wakefield has launched a new fitness community to help others who are struggling with addiction.
Jody Hopwood-Fox, 44, has created the programme with one of his clients, Marcus Pereira, who is also in recovery.
After struggling with drink for years, Jody was reported missing by his worried family in early 2023. He had run away and attempted to take his own life.
Jody said: “After it getting worse in 2022 and then losing my mum, I had a breakdown.
“The culture in the UK revolves around booze which means there are lots of functioning alcoholics amongst us. And for men, it can be hard to talk.
“I had an amazing partner, kids, a home but I had this disease. The alcoholism had started to control me. So I decided to end it because I thought it was better for all of my family.”
Fortunately, the police found him and he was placed in a mental health unit in Leeds, and when he left the unit he vowed to get clean.
"I needed intense specialist help as much as I wanted to be back home with my partner and kids," he added.
“Inevitably I relapsed a couple of times. It was then I realised I had to narrow the circle of people in my life to stay clean. I focused on the gym and getting clients as well as a training partner.
“I committed to an early morning boot camp called Mush Camp, because I definitely didn’t fancy doing that with a hangover.”
Jody began to socialise in these circles instead of nights out and trips to the pub.
“For men in tends to be socialising at the pub or a bar so I thought about setting up coffee mornings and lunch clubs for men who were also recovering," he said.
“In chatting to my client, Marcus, who I was helping to get clean from drugs, we came up with an idea called the Mean and Clean programme.”
The Mean and Clean programme is designed to create a safe space for people struggling with all addiction problems to find a new purpose in life.
Jody, also a qualified nutritionist, now hopes to not only offer exercise and nutrition programmes but is creating a community so that people socialise without alcohol such as over coffee or on walks and over lunch.
He added: “We promote the importance and benefits of physical exercise and quality nutrition to battle and recover from addiction.
"We aim to display that addiction is a real illness and should be taken seriously. We are dedicated to helping people take the first step by asking for help.
"We will help people to physically and mentally recover from the disease which is addiction.”