David Stalker, CEO of ukactive, offers an overview of the coming months, including a fascinating report that promises to place a true value on the health and fitness sector

I’d like to take the opportunity to update you on some of the projects that have been occupying us over the past few months. As we say goodbye to another summer of fantastic events, including the ukactive Flame Conference and Awards, the Moving More Living More regional forums and Change4Life’s Get Going events, we’re rolling up our sleeves and preparing for a couple more.

Staff investment
By now you will know that ukactive is working with Active IQ to deliver and grow the Active Training Awards. I’m particularly passionate about workforce development and the crucial role it plays in the advancement of our sector. We’ve had a fantastic response in terms of applications for the awards, which highlight and celebrate excellence and best practice in training providers, and we look forward to seeing everything come to fruition at the awards ceremony in late November.

 We’re also headlong into planning for the ukactive Summit, ukactive’s policy showpiece event of the year. With the General Election just around the corner, the challenge is on to raise physical activity up the priority list to become a top tier Public Health issue for all political parties and influencers. Against that backdrop alone, this year’s Summit promises to be more compelling than ever.

‘Translation research’
One of the things we’re committed to at ukactive is the idea that, in order for our sector to have the ear of government and position ourselves to influence major decisions in the business and commercial space, our narrative and recommendations around physical activity must stem from a strong evidence base. With this mind, I want to make note of two core insight-driven projects that you’ll soon be hearing about. 

The first is a research report being produced by the ukactive Research Institute on the value of ‘translational research’ to the physical activity sector. The report acknowledges that basic laboratory research findings sometimes aren’t all that useful in terms of real-world application – that is, in supporting physical activity programmes that improve the health of the nation. Our study explores the stumbling blocks at that junction, and takes a deep look at the development factors that help bridge the gap between basic physical activity research and a deliverable product, programme or intervention.

 We’ve been hearing for a while now that the avalanche of preventable conditions that plague so many of the general public could mean the end of a free NHS within a short while. Our sector should be the obvious choice of macro-partner in addressing this challenge through the promotion of physical activity; much of this awareness work could be achieved through partnerships with business and commercial heavyweights.

But before this can be achieved at scale, there’s work to be done to articulate the value of our sector. We’re working alongside Mazars and Repucom on a turnkey body of work, which we’ve called Fitonomics: Redefining the value of the gym and leisure industry. It’s the first ever study that looks beyond the calculation of membership to arrive at a ‘value’ for the sector. It addresses a significant gap in the sector’s influence toolkit and we expect it to have significant impact on investment decisions, and on inspiring new ideas and solutions.

 I look forward to bringing you further details on all of these exciting projects as they develop, but in the meantime, keep active. We especially hope to see you at a Power Half Hour event on 26 September – National Fitness Day.