INTERVIEW WILL WATT
A focus on wellbeing Through his work at State of Life, Watt has become one of the leading voices linking physical activity with measurable wellbeing and economic value – not only health outcomes, but how being active improves happiness, con dence, trust, community connections and life satisfaction. Known as wellbeing economics, it is an approach that looks beyond traditional economic indicators. “When someone says they’re feeling ‘seven out of 10’ today, they’re describing their wellbeing,” explains Watt. “That’s the data we’re interested in.” (See Measuring wellbeing impact brie ng.) Over the years, Watt’s team has advised a range of organisations – from leisure operators to parkrun to Sport England – on using data to evidence and quantify the wider societal bene ts of physical activity. In short, to show how their programmes help make people’s lives better. It is this work that helped underpin Sport England’s estimate – published in 2024 – that sport and physical activity generate more than £100bn in social value in England each year, promoting greater wellbeing, physical and mental health bene ts, increased social trust and stronger communities. Yet for Watt, the real story isn’t the headline number. It’s how the activity sector reaches that number – and how it can use consistent evidence to drive system change. Proving the value of physical activity
The physical activity sector has long argued that getting people active improves lives. The question now is whether it can evidence this convincingly enough to influence preventative health policy and public spending. For Will Watt, founder and director of wellbeing economics consultancy State of Life, the answer lies in better use of estimates and evidence – and in the sector being far more collaborative and honest with itself. “If you’re a sports or physical activity organisation and claim to make people’s lives better, you need to have the decency to ask them whether you actually have,” he comments.
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STATE OF THE UK FITNESS INDUSTRY REPORT 2026
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