Free entry, 2.30pm to 4pm on Saturday 10 October at Venue 28 on Beckenham Road: bodybuilder and author John Xuereb talks about change on Mental Health Day.
A free talk on health, fitness and the mind comes to Beckenham this Saturday, 10 October, which is World Mental Health Day. It is called The Power to Change, it runs from 2.30pm to 4pm at Venue 28, 28 Beckenham Road, and the guest is John Xuereb, a bodybuilder and author whose career was built in Canada, California and Malta rather than in Britain.
The organiser, Fani Angel, has spent the past few weeks walking into gyms, nurseries, businesses and community groups around Beckenham to fill the room. She puts the question the afternoon is about like this:
“Why can we know exactly what needs to change in our lives, and still find it so difficult to actually change it?”
The quick answer
- What: The Power to Change, a talk and conversation with John Xuereb.
- When: Saturday 10 October, 2.30pm to 4pm.
- Where: Venue 28, 28 Beckenham Road, Beckenham BR3 4LS.
- Cost: free. The organiser says there is nothing to buy: no programme, product or membership.
- Who for: anyone, from people who have not exercised in years to competitive athletes and personal trainers.
Who is John Xuereb?
Fani says John has had bodybuilding at the centre of his life for more than four decades, and that his life has taken him through Canada, California, Palm Springs, Malta and elsewhere. She says he won the Canadian Nationals on his way towards Mr Olympia, alongside other competitions, and that where he has lived and coached he is known as “The Man. The Myth. The Legend.”
He also writes. According to Fani, he has published several books on life, human behaviour, identity and adversity, and the latest, The Life I Wasn’t Supposed to Have, is his most personal. She describes it as “a deeply revealing account of a life repeatedly shaped by adversity, survival, transformation and rebuilding.”
The title is literal, she says. John has had open-heart surgery, survived a serious motorcycle accident, and lives with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) and significant memory and cognitive difficulties.
“For somebody who spent decades developing extraordinary control over his body, strength and physical performance, life eventually confronted him with the greatest challenge of all: what happens when the body you’ve spent your entire life building begins to challenge you? And yet John is still standing. Still training. Still writing. Still thinking. Still speaking.”
Why World Mental Health Day
Fani says the date was chosen because “physical transformation is only half of the conversation.”
“John can talk about bodybuilding. He can talk about training. Competition. Discipline. Success. But life has also forced him to understand something much more difficult: identity, adversity, loss, resilience and rebuilding. And that conversation is not only relevant to an elite athlete. It’s relevant to the person frightened to take their very first step too.”
The event’s message is “Your health. Your fitness. Your mind. Your future.” Its hardest question, in her words: “What if the person holding you back is you?”
She is clear it is not meant to be a stage motivational speech:
“This is not about somebody standing on a stage telling an audience how to become successful. It’s about asking people to look at themselves more closely than they normally do. Because sometimes transformation begins when somebody finally makes you see yourself.”
Who it is for
Fani wants a mixed room, and lists who she means:
“I want the person who hasn’t exercised for years and genuinely doesn’t know where to begin. The person who finds the thought of walking into a gym intimidating. The person who has said ‘I’ll start Monday’ more times than they can remember. But I equally want the person who has already started. The regular gym member. The experienced athlete. The competitive bodybuilder. And I want the professionals too. Personal trainers, coaches and people who already know exactly what they’re doing when it comes to health and fitness. I want them all in the same room!”
“Because change doesn’t end when somebody joins a gym. It doesn’t end when we lose weight. It doesn’t end when we build muscle or become strong. And it doesn’t even end when we become champions. Our bodies change. Our circumstances change. Our priorities change. Our health changes. And sometimes the strongest person in the room is fighting a battle nobody else can see.”
The woman behind it
Fani spent years as a professional actress and singer, touring internationally. Today she is an SEN teacher working with children with additional needs, and a mother and foster parent to three young people. She says this is not a commercial project:
“I’m not a large events company or a PR agency. I’m someone from this community who had an idea, believed strongly enough in it to make it happen, and has spent the last few weeks personally trying to bring the right people together in one room.”
“I’ve handed out invitations myself. I’ve knocked on doors. I’ve made phone calls. I’ve gone back when I couldn’t reach somebody the first time. Whether I was talking to somebody who had never exercised or somebody who had spent decades inside a gym, the moment we started talking about change, the conversation became personal. That’s when I realised that what we’re creating is not really just a fitness event. It’s a community conversation.”
She says this is the first event, and that she hopes to build on it.
What it means for you
- Turn up: entry is free and there is nothing to sign up for or buy, according to the organiser. Doors are at Venue 28, 28 Beckenham Road, BR3 4LS, from 2.30pm on Saturday.
- Questions: Fani Angel, Events and Partnerships at The Power to Change, is on 07717 377106.
- If you are struggling: World Mental Health Day is a reminder that help is free. In an emergency call 999; for support at any hour, Samaritans answer on 116 123.
For more across the borough, see what’s on in Bromley this month.
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