Having joined the Campaigns and Programmes Department at the FIA a few short months ago, it is amazing the amount of exciting stuff we have on at the moment. We have created a new flagship campaign—moreactive4life—that launched this summer. Year 1 of this 3-year campaign has taught us a lot: from the importance of helping our members with community engagement, to the media’s love of overweight bus drivers running on treadmills. I think what this campaign showed me was that our industry is great at marketing, but not necessarily at grassroots organisation. Approaching your local doctor’s office or supermarket is a challenge when it is often the first introduction they have had to our sector. I have been on the phone with nearly a thousand members these past few months, and everyone is saying the same thing: how do we foster local relationships with small businesses, doctors, schools, and families?
So our department is also shifting its focus at the moment. While we will continue to deliver our national campaigns, we also want to help our members engage with their community. This is at the heart of sustaining our sector, and ultimately the thing that makes even a national campaign something really special. This is also what the FIA does best—programmes like ‘go’ and ‘active at school’ bring students (and their families) into our clubs and introduce fitness in a non-traditional and fun way (P.E. is great, but what P.E. class offers Pilates or spinning?). So this is about making fitness fun. This is also about getting into your local GP’s office and explaining how you can help out. This is about partnering with your local pub to showcase how a circuit workout can burn off that pint you just downed. This is about our sector becoming a logical partner for a community’s health and wellbeing—and more foot-fall across your floor means more people, more active, more often.
I am really excited about the upcoming changes, so watch this space!
Matt Reents - FIA Programme Manager
So our department is also shifting its focus at the moment. While we will continue to deliver our national campaigns, we also want to help our members engage with their community. This is at the heart of sustaining our sector, and ultimately the thing that makes even a national campaign something really special. This is also what the FIA does best—programmes like ‘go’ and ‘active at school’ bring students (and their families) into our clubs and introduce fitness in a non-traditional and fun way (P.E. is great, but what P.E. class offers Pilates or spinning?). So this is about making fitness fun. This is also about getting into your local GP’s office and explaining how you can help out. This is about partnering with your local pub to showcase how a circuit workout can burn off that pint you just downed. This is about our sector becoming a logical partner for a community’s health and wellbeing—and more foot-fall across your floor means more people, more active, more often.
I am really excited about the upcoming changes, so watch this space!
Matt Reents - FIA Programme Manager
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