Workout Weekly June 9

WEEKLY

Issue 140 - 9 June 2023

YOUR REGULAR ONLINE UPDATE FOR THE UK FITNESS SCENE

New initiative to deliver unique sporting opportunities for people with disabilities

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Platform reveals £170m growth in social value of leisure centres, transforming lives and economy

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New initiative to deliver unique sporting opportunities for people with disabilities

LEISURE operator Everyone Active has joined forces with Superhero Series powered by Marvel, to increase sporting opportunities for people with disabilities.

The Superhero Series – the UK’s only mass-participation sports series dedicated to people with disabilities –will be supported through sponsorship and free training facilities at Everyone Active facilities, for all competitors.

The partnership will kick off at The Superhero Series At Home event – a virtual race open to everyone from July 8 to August 6. The event will see teams participating at home, in the garden or at a local park to complete a combined distance of 51,060km.

With more than 2,400 total

participants, aged between three and 81, already signed up – the first event of this year’s series will see people with any kind of disability come together to compete in a unique, solo or team challenge from their home.

Everyone Active will be offering all participants the chance to train at their leisure facilities ahead of the event, with two months free membership across their public swimming sessions at all swimming pools (available between July 8 to September 10).

The second event of the summer series will be a Superhero Tri powered by Marvel on August 12. The event will take place at Dorney Lake, Windsor, with three distances to choose from and many ways to take part in these unique

tri challenges. Participants can take on all three stages on their own (swim, cycle and push or run), or share the fun in a team relay, or Superheroes can recruit teammates to help them around the entire course.

Everyone Active’s strategic lead – health and wellbeing, Rebecca Phillips, said: “We are proud to support this fantastic series of events, which champion inclusive activity for all. Over the coming months, we’ll be engaging with our customers and Superhero Series participants, to support their training and showcase the benefits of physical activity.

“We’ll also be using the opportunity to further educate our colleagues and ensure our sites are inclusive and

accessible for all disabled people.

“Inclusivity is one of the Everyone Active core values, and this is a brilliant example of what can be done to help break down barriers in physical activity and make a real difference to support people with disabilities.”

Superhero Series founder Sophia Warner added: “We are delighted to be working with the team at Everyone Active. We understand the importance of providing accessible facilities for people with disabilities and more importantly that they have the confidence to use them.

“We are excited about the opportunities that this partnership brings for the Superhero Series and for the disabled community as a whole.”

Group’s future secured thanks to support from BPL

THE future of a group which supports people living with dementia and their carers has been secured after local charitable trust BPL took over the running of the sessions.

The memory group, which takes place every other Friday, was already well established and attended, with BPL providing one of its venues –Kilton Forest Golf Club – to host the sessions.

But when the previous group facilitators said they could no longer continue, BPL stepped in to take over the running of the group and ensure

Director of Operations: Dominic Musgrave Tel: 01226 734407 dm@scriptmediagroup.co.uk

Studio manager: Paul Hopkinson ph@scriptmediagroup.co.uk

Assistant studio manager: Scott Firth sf@scriptmediagroup.co.uk www.workoutuk.co.uk

local people didn’t miss out on this vital support service.

With input from attendees, a new name was chosen – The Kilton Feel Good Memory Group.

The remaining funds, plus donations from local organisations such as the Freemasons, have been put back into the running of the sessions.

Community health and wellbeing manager at BPL, Angela Dainty, said: “As a charitable trust, it’s so important for us to support our local communities and if we hadn’t stepped in to take over the running of

the group, these sessions would have stopped, which would have been a massive loss.

“It’s a welcoming group, with a lovely atmosphere and people really enjoy coming.

“It’s also an important support network for carers and we help signpost to other local services, which may be useful for them.”

Angela also said there is potential in the future to put on more sessions, perhaps making the group a weekly event, but more volunteers would be needed to increase its frequency.

She added: “We rely on the support of our brilliant volunteers to run the group and we’re always looking for more people who can spare some time to help.

“If you can and would like to know more about getting involved, we would love to hear from you.”

The Kilton Feel Good Memory Group takes place on alternate Fridays from 11am to 1.30pm at Kilton Forest Golf Club.

Sessions cost £6, which includes unlimited tea and coffee, a light lunch and entertainment.

Fisikal and Keepme announce official integration

FISIKAL and Keepme have announced an official integration.

The partnership will provide leisure centres, health clubs and gyms with a fully interoperable package of smart member automation, AI powered business intelligence, advanced booking, payment and content delivery solutions designed to optimise new member acquisition, retention and secondary spend revenue opportunities.

“This partnership brings together unique, market leading business intelligence and automation, delivered to customers through a personalised custom-branded member experience,” said Rob Lander, CEO of Fisikal.

“Using its smart automation platform, Keepme applies predictive AI and member data to optimise efficiencies at all points on the member journey whilst Fisikal’s functionality streamlines personalisation, on-demand content, bookings and payment processes.

“This partnership draws from the expertise of two market leading brands to create a smart digital solution focused on driving financial success.”

Fisikal and Keepme are both big advocates of collaboration.

Ian Mullane, CEO of Keepme, added: “Frictionless interoperability is vital if we, as a sector, are to optimise the

Platform reveals £170m growth in social value of leisure centres, transforming lives and economy

DATA from Sport England’s Moving Communities platform has shown that the social value generated by activity undertaken in leisure centres in the UK is on the rise, with close to a £170million increase over the last 12 months.

Based on a sample size of 771 sites across the UK, leisure centres are contributing more than £945million in social value, compared to £778million over the previous 12 months.

Moving Communities is a Sport England driven initiative delivered by 4GLOBAL and a group of consortium members; Leisure-Net, Right Directions and Sheffield Hallam University.

Together, Moving Communities provides the largest data set ever gathered reporting on local authority leisure centre performance.

Social value is measured across four major categories: physical and mental health, subjective wellbeing, individual development, and social and community development.

The numbers are growing across all four categories but subjective wellbeing – which is the value of higher wellbeing derived by participants from engaging in sport and physical activity – generates the most social value at £529million.

“The growth in social value

Emma Bernstein

demonstrates that the public leisure sector is playing a vital role in improving the health of the nation,” said Steve Mann, director at 4Global.

“Measuring social value not only empowers leisure operators and local authorities to showcase the impact of their investments in sport and physical activity, but it also uncovers the scale of their contributions.

“While we have long recognised the important role of leisure in saving the

nation millions in health and social care costs annually, we now have an accurate and benchmarked tool to show the extent of the sector’s impact.”

Data from Moving Communities showed that physical and mental health indicators are also on the rise with social value reaching £168million in the last 12 months compared to £152million in the previous 12 months.

This figure is calculated by estimating the number of reduced cases of health conditions like Type 2 diabetes, breast and colon cancer, hip fractures, back pain, dementia, and depression that result from physical activity, multiplied by the average annual cost of a person diagnosed by the condition.

It also considers the reduction in GP visits and A&E attendances related to sports injuries.

“Shifting beyond conventional fitness facilities and pools, the leisure sector is transforming centred around an active well-being approach,” said Emma Bernstein, strategic project lead for Sport England.

“This new direction can include an array of services, ranging from musculoskeletal hubs and pharmacies to vibrant community centres, all of which contribute to wider benefits for local

communities each year.”

Social and community development contributed a total of £241million over the last 12 months.

This category measures the savings in the criminal justice system from reduced crime rates among young people, plus the increased social capital from enhanced social networks, trust and reciprocity.

Individual development is also an important indicator that looks at the improved educational attainment through sports participation.

This is calculated using lifetime productivity returns and higher starting salaries following graduation.

Based on data from Moving Communities, individual development contributed approximately £6million over the past 12 months.

“The Moving Communities social value calculator is an important development that takes national research and applies it to local public leisure facilities,” added Emma. “It provides a picture of how community sport and physical activity significantly contributes to the five outcomes identified in the government’s sports strategy, and encouragingly, our data is showing a positive trend: that social value is growing each year.”

Older lifeguards key to shortage says RLSS UK

RLSS UK wants more older adults to become RLSS UK qualified lifeguards to help ease the leisure sector’s ongoing recruitment challenge.

The charity, which works with more than 3,000 swimming pools across the UK and Ireland, says almost every pool operator needs help to fill lifeguard posts.

Attracting more over-50s into the profession makes business sense; RLSS UK’s latest Lifeguard Survey shows this cohort to be more fulfilled by their work and open to ongoing training and development than their younger colleagues.

“The government wants to encourage more over-50s back into work, and lifeguarding is ideal employment for this age group for a host of reasons,” said Nicola Baldwin, RLSS UK’s research and insights manager.

“Older workers want work that is meaningful, flexible and offers social interaction. Lifeguarding provides all of this and more.

“Our survey shows that older lifeguards feel really positive about being part of the lifeguarding community and the sense that they are making a difference. They also value the flexibility of the role.”

With one in five people aged 50 to 69 years in the UK acting as informal carers being able to fit lifeguarding around other commitments is highly attractive for people in this age bracket.

According to survey results published earlier this year, lifeguards aged 50 and over are some of the most fulfilled in the profession and why 80 per cent of them would recommend the job to others.

Almost all older lifeguards (95 per cent) say they feel proud to have completed the RLSS UK’s National Pool Lifeguard Qualification – the most popular lifeguard qualification in the UK and Ireland – and nearly three quarters (73 per cent) say the qualification had improved their confidence.

With so much work available, nine in 10 NPLQ holders have worked or volunteered as a lifeguard since completing their qualification.

Nicola added: “Attracting older people into lifeguarding has clear benefits for operators and workers and could be the key to solving the UK’s lifeguard shortage.

“We’d like to see more older adults enjoying this wonderful profession’s benefits while plugging the skills gaps to ensure our pools stay open.”

Unlock live and on demand classes with the ultimate wellness community

HOST and broadcast gym, fitness and wellbeing classes to the world or work out anywhere, with new experiences through three elements of Myzone Premium: MZ-Club, MZ-Together, and MZ-On Demand.

Offering more people more ways to get physically active, the three Myzone Premium additions enable gyms, schools, corporate, military and other physical activity facilities to access the perfect solution in meeting their community needs.

In the gym, outdoors or at home, Premium brings the Myzone ecosystem and live heart rate tile direct to where any individual wishes to move.

What’s included in the Myzone Premium packages?

MZ-Club enables facilities to broadcast their own live and pre-recorded content using the Myzone booking diary.

In addition, trainers and staff can also upload pre-recorded content to the MZOn Demand section of the app.

Community members get to work out with their familiar trainers, class disciplines and visual environment, wherever they want to move.

MZ-Together gives any community the opportunity to take part in Myzone live classes, such as Cardio Club, hosted by Myzone master trainers with a global network.

Community members get access to classes coached by heart rate zone with an engaged community of other Myzone movers.

MZ-On Demand unlocks more than 1,300 classes that can be filtered by

MEPs, duration, or required equipment.

This bolt-on resource of classes is perfect to boost any gym’s current class timetable.

Community members can earn MEPs any time, choosing through a vast range of classes to suit any of their fitness needs, any time and anywhere.

With any combination of the above, MZ-Maps is also included.

Maps is a new feature where individuals will not only see when they hit each heart rate zone, but each zone will show up along their route.

Don’t just track your effort, map it.

Scale your gym class experience

“This is a huge opportunity for gym communities to scale their class experience and get more people moving in new ways,” said Dave Wright, CEO of Myzone.

“That consistent experience, tied in with the benefits of meeting World Health Organization guidelines for physical activity is set to be a game changer in enabling more people to work out wherever they want, all while still staying connected to their gym or fitness facility.

“Over lockdowns around the world, we invested a significant amount of money to keep communities moving and accountable to their journey of physical activity.

“Our research shows that gym members using Myzone stay at least 24 per cent longer than those that don’t use Myzone.

“As a commitment to positive behaviour change, the development of these new Premium features enable gym operators, personal trainers, and other professionals to keep more people

moving, more often, anywhere.”

Developing a new evolution of fitness classes for the future

Following community feedback and ongoing software improvements, Myzone is committed to listening to its network of partners.

This includes everything from providing for gyms, schools, corporate, military, sports teams and other physical activity facilities, to the individuals using each heart rate monitor for the best fitness and wellbeing journey that lasts.

“It’s been an exciting opportunity to learn from industry support packages through the pandemic, developing this new evolution of class experience for the future,” added Leon Rudge, global head of product and CTO at Myzone.

“What’s more, in addition to the core Myzone Premium offering, MZ-Maps comes with every standalone or combination subscription because we’ve found that it’s such a key element of hybrid training.

“Being able to track effort in the club and then map effort out of it gives a whole new approach to gym engagement and community benefit that works in tandem to complement every exercise and drive positive behaviour change.

“Combined with the Myzone Fitness Test 2.0 and Beep Test, all available in the Myzone app, these Premium features provide a full-scale high value feature set to aid in creating physical activity habits that stick.”

For more information visit myzone.org/premium

New strategic business partners for GM Active

GM Active, a collective of 12 leisure and community organisations from all over Greater Manchester, has announced alliances with five new strategic business partners, who are joining the organisation’s three existing business collaborators. Strategic business partners are recruited for the value they bring to GM Active and its member organisations, as well as their commitment to helping the collective achieve its vision – to help people across Greater Manchester live healthy, happy, and longer lives.

The five new recruits are:

n Gladstone Software – providers of cloud-based leisure management software to leisure centres, universities and health clubs.

n Innerva – suppliers of powerassisted technology which provide a wellbeing solution for older adults, people with long term health conditions and difficult to reach communities.

n Reach Wellness – specialists in innovative niche products to supplement standard fitness equipment.

n The Great Outdoor Gym Company – creators and activators of outdoor fitness and activity spaces.

n Berkeley Insurance Group – one

of the UK’s largest privately-owned chartered insurance brokers.

Jon Keating, GM Active’s head of business operations, said: “Each business partner has its own niche role to play in our collective vision and mission.

“We are delighted to welcome them aboard and look forward to working

with them so we can mutually benefit from the knowledge and expertise they bring to the GM Active cause.

“I’d also like to say a huge thank you to our existing strategic business partners, Future Fit, Cornerstone Design and Marketing and Technogym, for extending their partnerships with us.”

Learning and development experts

Future Fit, marketing specialists

Cornerstone DM and fitness industry innovators Technogym have been strategic business partners since the scheme launched in 2022. They have all agreed to remain in place for the foreseeable future.

The GM Active collective of local authority leisure operators with a coalition of staff totalling 3,500 is responsible for 99 wellness and sports facilities across Greater Manchester, with a combined reach of more than 20 million visits every year.

It is currently in the midst of an ambitious change programme aiming to change how local leisure centres, swimming pools, fitness facilities and services are perceived and used, putting a greater emphasis on health and wellbeing instead of being purely focused on fitness.

Called the Pivot to Active Wellbeing it involves all 10 local authorities and their leisure operators alongside GreaterSport, Sport England and other connected partners.

Jon added: “We’re working with our partners to transform public sector leisure with a holistic approach that changes culture, systems, policies and practice.

Jon Keating, GM Active’s head of business operations.

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