Paul Kerton of the Hench Herbivore YouTube channel is a former Personal Trainer and Nutritionist. Ten years ago, in a misguided attempt to try and grow muscle as quickly as possible, he ended up eating more animal products than probably anyone you’ve ever met. He became very worried for his health when he came to learn the deleterious effects that eating even quite trivial amounts of animal products can have and through personal experience, found that far from being a hindrance to his sports performance, a well-planned vegan diet is actually optimal! Then with an open heart, he looked at how we treat animals in order for them to end up on our plates and it shook him to the core. He could not believe that for so long he fell for the lies that others tell us, that we tell ourselves, in order that we perpetuate this destructive behaviour. Destructive to ourselves, the beautiful, intelligent sentient beings that are here with us and indeed our very planet. To try and put right his part in all of this he overcame his fear of broadcast and public speaking to become an educator and share his knowledge and experience with the world.

His partner Gemma Nichols has a very large part to play in this enterprise too. She spent a decade of her young life suffering terrible ill health that sometimes saw her bed-ridden and suicidally depressed until she discovered the power of the whole foods, plant-based diet. In fact her amazing health transformation was the catalyst for Paul researching into this whole lifestyle. After running a healthy vegan catering business she went on to author three cookbooks and now regularly features alongside Paul in their YouTube videos and on stage inspiring people to recreate her mouth-watering dishes and reclaim their health just as she has.