OPERATOR PERSPECTIVE
OPERATOR PERSPECTIVE
Demand outweighs supply, so there are opportunities for us all to be successful – provided we target the right people in the right way
That’s helped by our wide choice of programmes, ranging from Junior Gym – supervised gym sessions for those aged 11–15 years, which further encourage ‘gym as the new pub’ – to Forever Active, where low-intensity exercise and sports sessions aim to improve mobility, fitness and general wellbeing and appeal predominantly to those in their 60s and 70s. Our Healthy Communities scheme is also a big part of this and is something we’ve expanded significantly over the last 12 months. It includes programmes within our centres – exercise referral, for example, and Move Through Menopause – as well as community-based services such as Walking in the Community, often in collaboration with our parent company Places for People. Healthy Communities is a great way of converting people who wouldn’t ordinarily think of coming to a leisure
centre to participate in exercise. Around 40,000 people have taken part in these programmes this year. We’ll continue to focus on this work, including building up a dedicated team. Previously, our centres were always the priority: team members who went out to deliver in the community also had responsibilities in-centre and if they were needed there, that came first. We didn’t want this to be the case, so we’ve been building – and will continue to build – a dedicated Healthy Communities team. In our Northumberland contract, we’ve also introduced a Senior Social Prescribing Link Worker, making us one of the first public operators to introduce a role like this. It’s about working with referred individuals, connecting them with community support that addresses practical, social and emotional needs to improve their health and wellbeing.
We’re proud to have been the founding partner on the Big Sister Project, but we’ve started speaking with other operators about it too
Tell us more about Healthy Communities I’ve mentioned Move Through Menopause, which is a programme we run in partnership with Menopause Movement. We’ve been very proactively talking about this recently and have had some lovely results, not only in terms of helping women with their symptoms, but also helping them realise our centres are for ‘people like them’ and that they can form a relationship with exercise at any time. Other programmes include the Big Sister Project, in partnership with Women in Sport. It’s been going for about 18 months now, targeting girls between the ages of nine and 15 years – the age they typically fall out of love with sport. This is a critical time in a young girl’s life to define her ongoing relationship with sport and physical activity. We go out and speak to them in safe places – school assemblies, for example – and invite them into our centres for classes with female instructors. They come in groups and can choose what they want to do, whether
that’s dance or touch rugby or cheerleading… or anything else. The feedback has been hugely positive, with the girls saying how fun it’s been and how much they’ve bonded. After a successful pilot, we have rolled out the Big Sister Project everywhere we have leisure centres – but we’ve started speaking with other operators about it too. We’re proud to have been the founding partner on this programme, but we don’t want access to be a postcode lottery. My hope for 2025–26 is that we can extend its reach beyond the boundaries of where Places Leisure operates. What’s next for Places Leisure? Partnerships are very important to us, from Women in Sport and Menopause Movement to others including FEAR, Level Water and Adapt to Perform. This is something we’ll continue to focus on strongly moving forward.
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STATE OF THE UK FITNESS INDUSTRY REPORT 2025
STATE OF THE UK FITNESS INDUSTRY REPORT 2025
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