Welcome To Our Community
We bring people together through Sport, Fitness & Wellbeing programs that inspire healthier lifestyles, build confidence and strengthen communities. Whether you're taking part, volunteering or supporting our work, you're helping us create lasting opportunities for people of all ages.
Meet The Team
Ishmael
Ishmael
Ishmael
DJ Ish founded Countdown Community Health & Wellbeing after his own cardiac health journey inspired him to help others live healthier lives through sport, fitness and community.
Abdul
Ishmael
Ishmael
Abdul combines decades of community leadership, healthcare experience and youth mentoring to inspire healthier lifestyles and create positive change through Countdown's programmes.
Haja
Ishmael
Haja
Haja oversees Countdown's day to day admin and programme coordination, ensuring every activity runs smoothly while supporting the team's mission to improve community health and wellbeing.
our story
Countdown Community Health & Wellbeing was born from a shared passion for community, friendship and giving back.
For many years, DJ Ish and DJ Little worked together as DJs and business partners, using their platform to entertain communities across London while raising money for charities close to their hearts. Annual birthday celebrations became fundraising events, with proceeds supporting organisations including Breast Cancer UK, Prostate Cancer UK and youth charities in both the UK and Sierra Leone.
The inspiration for Countdown came through personal experience. Following a cardiac health scare in 2015, DJ Ish became determined to prioritise his own wellbeing and encourage others to do the same. He embraced regular exercise, healthier living and charity fundraising through events ranging from 5K races to marathons. After experiencing his own health challenges, DJ Little joined the journey, sharing the same commitment to improving health and wellbeing within the community.
Together, they recognised that many people wanted to become more active but lacked the confidence, support or opportunity to get started. In response, they launched Countdown Community Health & Wellbeing, creating free, welcoming fitness sessions where everyone; regardless of age or ability; could take part. What began as a small initiative has grown into a thriving community movement, with weekly exercise classes, walking and running groups, parkruns and wellbeing activities that bring people together every week.
Their flagship Countdown Community Fun Run 5K inspired hundreds of people to get active and eventually evolved into the annual Countdown Community Sports Day, now one of the organisation's biggest events. Alongside physical activity, Countdown also provides health awareness sessions, inspirational testimonies and educational talks delivered by healthcare professionals and specialist guest speakers covering topics such as cancer awareness, menopause, nutrition and healthy lifestyles.
Today, Countdown continues to grow with a vision of creating a permanent community wellbeing hub where people can access fitness programmes, mentoring, health education and community support throughout the week.
Everything we do is guided by one simple belief: We Earn To Give Back!
Through fitness, fun and family, we're helping people live healthier lives while building stronger, more connected communities.
.jpeg/:/rs=w:400,cg:true,m)