#FIGHTIT

Leon McKenzie is a TalkSport host, leading voice on Mental Health within the sport, former Premier League footballer, and professional boxer.

Leon knows exactly what it takes to be successful in a competitive arena. Reaching elite levels in two sports. Playing, and scoring, in all 4 professional leagues in England, Leon went on to win two promotion medals during a career that saw him represent Crystal Palace, Peterborough United, Norwich City, Coventry City, Charlton Athletic, and Northampton Town. His goal-scoring achievements saw him enter the Hall of Fame for Peterborough United.

Leon has had many trials and tribulations during and after football, suffering from depression even at the peak of his career. After career-threatening injuries suffered badly from depression and later in life. Leon revealed that things got so bad he tried to end it all by attempting to take his own life. In 2012 things continued to get worse for Leon, after he served time in prison for driving offences.

Despite all of this, Leon didn’t crumble, he kept fighting back and wrote his autobiography "My Fight With Life," which was published in 2012, and then Leon then went on to achieve again in another sport - professional boxing. At 35 years old Leon jumped into the ring and once again was successful in competitive sport, showing that with persistence, hard work, and self-belief not even age can stop you from achieving your goals even after being in such a dark place in life. He won an International Masters title and challenged for English & Southern area titles his last title fight being the fight of the year.

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Leon is now an ambassador for CALM & the Samaritans speaking about mental health awareness, using his careers and experiences in sport to inspire and motivate audiences across the UK, and previously hosted a talk in Madrid. He also is a shareholder for LAPS (Life After Professional Sport) an organisation that aims to help athletes prepare for life outside of sport once they finish their careers.

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Leon has produced a fantastic documentary film called Ten Count, which is set to be released very soon. This film documents Leon’s journey, lighting a torch on mental health issues within sport. Leon Interviews many athletes from across the UK and USA including Dwayne Johnson aka The Rock.

The Samaritans

“Leon took time out to offer some life advice to a group of inmates at HMYOI Feltham to mark twenty-five years of Samaritans Listening Scheme.

Leon was the perfect choice to undertake this kind of activity given his experience of prison and the lows he has suffered since his professional football career was curtailed prematurely through injury. The fact that he has since continued in his family’s footsteps by fighting for domestic boxing belts and spoken openly about his mental health issues are further testament to a never-say-die spirit distilled in adversity. These days he wants to reach out and help vulnerable youngsters and speak out as a man who has suffered, survived, and thrived despite depression”

Layla, Norwich Mind

Leon made a big impact on our Men’s Mental Health event last year. He was a pleasure to work with, added tonnes of value through marketing and media, and his personal story really resonated with the audience. The feedback was great and the audience were really affected by his experience and his views on changing stigma around mental health. Thank you, Leon

Baker McKenzie Law Firm

This was a really great session, and he delivered so well. It is refreshing to see men admitting that it is ok to admit you are not ok, no matter who you are. This must not be easy to tell in front of an audience and all my credit to him, this is an achievement and even I do not know him or knew who he was, I am proud for him. I hope he gets a lot of positive feedback and thank him for sharing his touching story.

Mark Redmond, Supervisor, HE Simm

We were extremely apprehensive getting this off the ground as this is unchartered territory in the construction industry and we’re not sure if Leon's talk would hit home with the operatives on site. How wrong we were thankfully, Leon is a class act, and the way in which he involved all attendees was something special to behold. My biggest worry was that during the QA session we would have no involvement from the lads but it was possibly one of the most harrowing and honest experiences I have ever witnessed on site. We held the sessions in an intimate setting with around 20 operatives per talk and the interaction from all involved was amazing. This is the beginning of our journey into the murky waters of mental health within the building trade and I hope you will continue this journey with us. Which now brings me to the close and I will simply say this.......Leons is the real deal.

Why #FIGHTIT?

“People often ask me why I set up #FightIT and it’s a good question.

A lot of things in my life spiraled out of control. Injuries and personal issues had a terrible effect on my mental and physical state. I felt very lonely, lost, and had a total sadness within me. This culminated with me attempting to take my own life in 2009 which, looking back, I was fortunate to survive.

At that time I wish we had more awareness within my work environment of these issues, with people comfortable to deal with the emotions I was experiencing.

The key that rescued me was believing I could beat what I was going through and being open with my loved ones. That enabled them to have more understanding of what I was going through.

With the right help, I came back fighting, not just in the ring but winning against my personal battles. Depression has been a big part of the person I am now and with my resilience and the skills I’ve learnt to fight it, I’m now using this to inspire others, raise awareness and help people seek what they need to win their individual battles”

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WORK WITH US

#FightIT is aimed at individuals, groups and organisations:

Individuals - to help them through their unique battles using experience and listening skills to work through the causes of mental health issues to a positive solution.

Groups - to speak to like-minded groups of people that have already begun to recognise their collective problems, seek to break down the barriers of talking about how they are feeling and reinforce the progress already made.

Organisations - to speak to organisations that recognise their potential vulnerability to mental health issues or raise awareness in those forward-thinking enough to confront issues head-on. Our aim is to give their teams the skills they need to recognise issues and deal with them before they progress too far.

Leon has spoken all over the U.K at schools, business events, charities and prisons about his journey through life and offers specific programmes designed to deliver what will be uniquely suited to your company, event or situation.

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