LATEST NEWS: 'A leopard can change its spots and people can change their life round'

“IT’s like I’ve discovered a treasure and I want to share it with other people.”

Those are the words of Robert Blowman as he reflects on his journey following years of battling mental health problems. 

With little confidence and little desire to leave his house, 46-year-old Robert knew something had to change. 

With help from a friend, he turned to physical exercise and credits it with being the “key” to turning his life around. 

The dad-of-two, from Wyke, is now in a position where he wants to help others who are struggling.

He is involved in The Speak In Club, a mental health service which runs at three venues across the district, and now facilitates meetings - something which six months ago he never imagined he would be able to do. 

Robert said: “I’ve struggled with mental health pretty much since I was a young teenager, I used to get in trouble with the police and stuff, I had interviews with probation and a doctor there that said they thought I had a personality disorder and stuff like that.

"I didn’t really get any treatment for it, I went through life relying on substances and alcohol from a young age due to my mental health. I’ve had times in my life where I’ve managed to straighten myself out, but I always seemed to revert back.”

He added: “I’ve struggled really badly in the last 10 years, and I just started watching YouTube videos of other people that have turned their life around and how they had done it.

“A friend of mine got in touch with me because he knew I was struggling with my mental health and he started taking me to the gym.”

Robert says he didn’t have the confidence to go on his own, but that soon started to grow each time he went out of his house.

Like the YouTube videos he watched, Robert also started to document his own journey.

“I don’t know if it was something to look back for myself, but I also wanted to show other people that it’s possible, no matter how low and how bad you feel in life, no matter what’s gone on, there is ways of combatting it other than just being sat in the house and taking medication,” he said.

Speaking about his ‘turning point’, Robert added: “I was so low I just thought, I can’t carry on like this. The thought of living like that, day in, day out. I didn’t used to come out of the house. I just wanted to sort myself out and I thought I would give the gym a go and it’s just changed my life.

"I’ve been through drug rehabilitation, now I’m totally clean, I don’t drink, I don’t smoke, physical exercise is the key to my life now.”

Through his involvement with the Speak In Club, he encourages people to reach out.

“Although I’m not struggling that much myself where I go there for help, it helps me, helping other people,” he said.

“It’s like I’ve discovered a treasure and I want to share it with other people."

Robert will today set off on a charity trek to Liverpool to raise funds for two charities close to his heart - mental health charity Mind in Bradford and Scotty’s Little Soldiers, a charity which supports children and young people who have experienced the death of a parent who served in the army. He is also due to embark on the Three Peaks for the Speak in Club.

To donate, visit: www.justgiving.com/team/LiverpoolWalk