A gold medallist athlete and engineer have teamed up to create a new supplement brand, which aims to provide natural supplements for brain injuries. After sustaining several concussion injuries herself as a GB athlete, Shona McCallin, 30, formerly of Newark, has teamed up with Luke O'Reilly, 37, of Newark, to create The Ten Per Cent Club.
The business launched on Friday, March 31, and has four different nootropic supplements to offer. It aims to improve overall health and wellness, such as aiding sleep, enhancing recovery and improving mental health, as well as a focus on brain injuries, due to Shona's own history.
Shona, who is an Olympic gold and bronze medallist in field hockey, has suffered from multiple brain injuries throughout her career, and says these products have really helped her recovery, which has in turn allowed her to return to full fitness. The Commonwealth Games winner and Luke decided to turn the supplements into a brand after seeing her "amazing" results, and have decided to donate a percentage of the sales to Headway, a concussion in sports charity.
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Shona said: "Unfortunately during my career I have had two brain injuries in the form of concussions and I've literally just got back from my second one, which put me out the game for nearly 18 months. During the second one I started doing a bit of research and a bit of reading on what can help concussions, and it's such a developing area but a really important one.
"The research has come on loads since I had my first one in 2018, but there's still a lot to be done." She explained that she came across some researching regarding mushrooms and it "got me reading more and more about various other mushrooms, and the health benefits for both the brain and body.
"I've known Luke for a while and he had come across them as well so we started talking and decided to launch a business together based on my own personal experiences." The pair have "invested heavily" in making sure the supplements can go through the globally renowned 'Informed Sport' process.
This is a system which scans all supplements for banned substances, and GB and professional athletes can only use products that have been approved. Speaking of the testing process, Luke explained: "We would be the only dedicated nootropic company.
"Obviously Shona is a GB athlete, these guys can't risk failing a drugs test, they need it to be safe so we are putting them through all this screening now. The benefits and the research results are unbelievable."
The duo are also looking to donate a portion of its profits to Headway.
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