Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
United Nations role for Love Island’s Anton
Star will visit schools around the UK
Love Island TV personality Anton Danyluk’s successful summer has spawned a surprise spin-off – an ambassadorial role with the United Nations.
The Airdrie gym instructor, 24, has been awarded the position of World Merit Ambassador, which involves promoting health and wellbeing among young people around the globe.
Anton, who runs his own health and fitness retreat called The Ranch, was offered the job after the UN identified him as a great role model for children and teenagers.
The popular Love Islander, who just missed out on a place in the final with partner Belle Hassan, is over the moon with his appointment and can’t wait to get started.
Anton, who struggled with his weight as a teenager, said: “I can’t quite believe it.
“My mission pre-Love Island was to change the lives of kids and teenagers through health and exercise.
“Being asked to be a World Merit Ambassador for the United Nations takes this to a whole new level.
“When I was younger, I had insecurities about my weight. When I started going to the gym and having a healthier lifestyle, I began to feel better.
“For me, it’s not about how you look on the outside – it’s about how you feel on the inside.
“I just want to express that to as many people as possible and this is the perfect platform.”
Anton will visit schools around the UK in his new role to share his story of how exercise changed his life.
He said: “When I started high school, I was a little bit overweight. I wasn’t obese but I had some puppy fat.
“I used to get my mum to write me sick notes on swimming days at school because I didn’t want to take my shirt off.
“My mum decided enough was enough and she started dragging me to the gym at 5.30am before school.
“The more exercise I did, the more confident I became.
“As I got older, I wanted to help people feel the way I felt and that’s what made me set up my fitness business.
“When I was 21, I started doing kids’ boot camps, where I’d teach them about healthy eating as well as exercising for fun.
“I got great feedback from the parents about how happy the kids were.
“I’ll be using this knowledge when I go round the schools and I will also be encouraging pupils to take part in a 21day challenge, where they’ll take away one bad habit or add in a healthy habit and keep it up for 21 days.”
Partnered with the UN in 2015, World Merit became the first global youth movement to promote the organisation’s sustainable development goals, which include health and well-being.
World Merit chief executive Marlou Cornelisen said: “I have witnessed the work of hundreds of thousands of changemakers across the globe and they all have something in common – a desire to bring positive change to their communities.
“Anton’s work fits brilliantly with World Merit and the United Nations’ mission to achieve good health and wellbeing across all of the UK and beyond.”