Get Back Up CIC

03/09/2026

BACK TO CUMBERNAULD TOMORROW 💙🧡

Tomorrow morning I’ll be back at Men Matter Scotland, Cumbernauld, beginning another six-week block of Start Living Now.

And we start exactly where the programme should start:

SESSION 1: THE POWER OF THE PRESENT MOMENT

How much of today do we sacrifice thinking about yesterday?

How much time do we lose worrying about things that haven’t even happened yet?

We can’t change the past. We can’t control everything that’s coming. But we can become better at dealing with what’s happening right now.

Tomorrow we’ll look at rumination, worrying about the future, recognising where our attention goes, and practical ways of bringing ourselves back into the present.

Start Living Now isn’t about pretending life is easy or telling people to simply “think positive.”

It’s about developing practical tools to navigate life when it isn’t easy.

Acceptance.
Control.
Responding rather than reacting.
Boundaries.
Self-talk.
Living intentionally.

Six sessions, all ultimately pointing towards the same thing:

You can’t rewrite yesterday.
You don’t get to live tomorrow yet.
But you do have today.

Really looking forward to meeting the new group and seeing some familiar faces again.

And there’s plenty happening throughout the day at the Cumbernauld hub too. Have a look at the poster for the full Friday programme. 👆

11am tomorrow. Let’s Start Living Now. 💙🧡

03/09/2026

WE’VE BEEN A LITTLE QUIETER ON HERE… BUT NOT BEHIND THE SCENES. 💙🧡

There’s been a lot happening at Get Back Up recently.

Some of it has been visible. A lot of it hasn’t.

Time has been going into developing our programmes, building the new website, getting the boring-but-important accounts and business side organised, making new connections, and importantly, making sure I continue looking after my own health and development too.

Because Get Back Up was built from lived experience, and I never want to pretend that personal development somehow stops when you start helping other people.

Tomorrow, we’re back doing what matters most.

I return to Men Matter in Cumbernauld with another block of Start Living Now, with a return to the Drumchapel hub also lined up.

Every block I deliver teaches me something. Every group is different. Every conversation helps me improve the programme and become a better facilitator.

There have also been some pretty significant developments.

I’ve now become a trustee of Young Lives Matter, opening up an exciting new chapter working with young people and helping develop opportunities around prevention, resilience, healthier choices and mental fitness.

I’m also continuing to work closely with Jerome “Nev” Neville. We’ve developed a strong professional relationship and we’re now looking at new opportunities where our different experiences and approaches can work together.

There is plenty more happening behind the scenes that I’m not quite ready to announce yet.

But the important thing is this:

Things have changed.
The goal hasn’t.

Get Back Up exists to help people understand themselves better, develop practical tools, make healthier choices and realise that their past doesn’t have to dictate their future.

We’re still small. We’re still building. We’re still learning.

But we’re gaining experience, developing programmes, building relationships and making new connections every single week.

And to every person who follows the page, likes something, shares something, leaves a comment or quietly reads without ever interacting…

Thank you.

Every bit of support helps us reach the next person.

Now it’s time to start getting Get Back Up in front of a much bigger audience.

Onwards. 💙🧡

30/08/2026

I AM YOUR DISEASE 🦠

I hate your meetings that give you comfort and enlightenment.
I hate your Higher Power that enables your freedom.
I hate all who have a programme and expose me by doing so.

To everyone I touch, I bring suffering and untimely death.

Allow me to introduce myself.
I am the disease of alcoholism… cunning, baffling and powerful.
I am not satisfied with the millions I have already taken.
I want you. And I want yours.

I delight in the element of surprise.
I whisper that I’m your friend, your lover, your only comfort.
When you were lonely, I was there.
When you wanted to die, I sat beside you.

I live for your pain.
When you feel nothing, I am fulfilled.
I can satisfy you in an instant… and all I ask in return is long-term suffering.

I have always been there.
When life was good, you invited me in.
When you believed you didn’t deserve good things, I agreed.

Together, we destroyed everything you loved and lived for.
I loathe those who encourage you and tell you there is hope.
They are my enemies.

So surrender the things that will help you.
Come back to me.
I’ll be waiting in misery and decay.

Forever yours,
Alcoholism

🙏 Please, if this resonates with you or someone you care about, know there is a way out. You don’t need to fight this alone.

25/08/2026

Life is full of challenges and a massive learning process - sometimes people will make mistakes, they will struggle.

As long as you keep on getting back up and try your hardest every day to live the life you deserve, you will find more peace and happiness.

Find out what’s not going right in your life and start to make the changes that allow you to be content with who you are.

Believe me, this won’t happen overnight and there will be setbacks but never give up trying.

You’ve got this!

ChatGPT prompt:

Using what you know about me, show me the doorway to my future. Show what I’m leaving behind on one side and what I’m stepping into on the other. Make it personal to me and choose everything yourself. Don’t ask me questions - just create it. 😊

23/08/2026

Learning. Connection. Community. 💙

Today Get Back Up attended Rise Scotland, hosted by The Vortex Centre for Wellbeing, for a brilliant morning centred around mental wellbeing.

Through breathwork, meditation, anxiety-management techniques, intentional living and cold-water exposure, hundreds of people came together with one shared intention:

To look after themselves and learn tools that can help when life becomes difficult.

It was particularly interesting for us to hear many themes that closely align with our own Start Living Now programme.

Present-moment awareness.
Responding rather than reacting.
Understanding anxiety.
Learning practical coping tools.
Living intentionally.

Different organisations will have different approaches, experiences and methods, but ultimately many of us are working towards the same thing.

Helping people understand themselves better and giving them practical tools they can actually use in everyday life.

Gary also had the opportunity to speak with Jim from Vortex about Start Living Now and the work being developed through Get Back Up CIC. It was a great conversation and hopefully one of many more connections that can develop as we continue growing.

The morning finished with a huge group heading into the cold water.

For some it was familiar territory.

For others, it was their very first time.

Watching people face that fear, step forward and take the plunge was a pretty good reminder of something we strongly believe at Get Back Up:

Growth often starts just outside your comfort zone.

Huge credit to The Vortex Centre for Wellbeing and everyone involved in bringing so many people together today.

There is some incredible wellbeing work happening across Scotland, and there is room for all of us to learn from each other, support each other and ultimately help more people.

The Vortex: Centre for Wellbeing

17/08/2026

Guys, if you’re struggling or just need some connection - get yourself up to the hub at Men Matter.

You will be well looked after, and with the classes they have on offer you could find something out about yourself you never knew you needed to know.

Make that move, go and see what it’s all about for yourself.

The schedule for this week

Get yourself along

15/08/2026

START LIVING NOW.

Sometimes you come across something that perfectly captures what you’ve been trying to teach.

This is exactly why Start Living Now has that name.

We sacrifice so much of the only time we actually have.

Today.

We replay conversations from yesterday.
We beat ourselves up about mistakes we’ve already made.
We worry about things that haven’t happened yet.
We imagine worst-case scenarios.
We tell ourselves we’ll start living properly when something changes.

And while we’re doing all of that, today is disappearing.

Living in the present doesn’t mean ignoring your past or pretending the future doesn’t matter.

Learn from the past.

Prepare for the future.

But live today.

That’s something we explore throughout Start Living Now. Acceptance. Understanding what we can and cannot control. Learning to respond rather than react. Creating healthier boundaries. Changing the way we speak to ourselves. And ultimately, learning to live more intentionally.

Life is still going to hurt sometimes.

You’ll have difficult days. You’ll feel anger, sadness, disappointment, fear and frustration.

Feel it.

Being present isn’t about becoming emotionless. It’s about recognising what you’re feeling without allowing that feeling to take control of everything that happens next.

You have more tools available to you than you might realise.

Connection. Exercise. Nature. Conversation. Support groups. Meditation. Routine. Reflection. Professional support. Sometimes even something as simple as getting outside and walking for half an hour.

Joy doesn’t always need a grand plan either.

A walk.
A sunset.
Music.
A laugh with somebody you love.
A cup of coffee somewhere peaceful.
Five minutes where your head finally goes quiet.

Don’t spend your whole life waiting to start living it.

Yesterday has already happened.
Tomorrow isn’t promised.
Today is where your life is actually happening.

Start Living Now. ❤️‍🩹

Image credit: Buddhism

06/08/2026

Nobody is coming to save you.

That isn’t a message of hopelessness.

It’s a message of empowerment.

Support changes lives.

Connection changes lives.

Professional help changes lives.

But none of those things can replace one crucial decision:

Your willingness to take the next step.

Recovery, growth and personal development begin when we accept responsibility for the parts of life we can control.

That doesn’t mean blaming ourselves for everything that’s happened.

It means recognising that while we can’t always choose what happens to us, we can choose how we respond.

At Get Back Up we believe in building healthier lives through acceptance, accountability, connection and action.

The goal isn’t to become perfect.

The goal is to become healthier than you were yesterday.

Every lesson learned is another step forward.

Keep learning.

Keep growing.

Keep moving.

Image credit: Buddhism Facebook.

05/08/2026

Sometimes, the best thing you can do for your mental health is step away from everything for an hour.

At Get Back Up, we’re always talking about building a healthy toolbox. Recovery and wellbeing aren’t just about talking. They’re about finding positive habits that help regulate your mind and body.

Today we visited The Wild Heat behind Partick Cricket Club, and what an experience it was.

The combination of a traditional wood-fired sauna followed by a cold plunge isn’t always easy, but the feeling afterwards is incredible. You leave feeling calmer, clearer, and more present.

No, it won’t solve every problem you’re facing.

But it might just give your nervous system the reset it needs, helping you face those problems with a clearer head.

If you’ve never tried contrast therapy before, we’d definitely recommend giving it a go.

A huge thank you to the team at The Wild Heat for creating such a welcoming space. We’ll definitely be back.

Remember, looking after your mental health isn’t always about waiting until things fall apart. Sometimes it’s about making time to recharge before they do.