‘Our Flame Award gave us the spark to build on our success’

Guest post by DC Leisure

As the deadline for entering this year’s Spark of Innovation Award rapidly approaches in less than a week, DC Leisure look back on winning the first ever Spark and how being recognised by the FIA and the sector for their innovation has helped them build on its success since then.

Last summer, William Gregg VC Leisure Centre, managed by DC Leisure in partnership with Amber Valley Borough Council, celebrated a fantastic win at the FIA & Matrix Flame Awards when we scooped the first Spark of Innovation award. 

As one of five finalists, we won the award for our Swim4Health programme - a simple, yet strong innovation based around original thinking and efficient use of resources.

The Swim4Health idea came about from DC Leisure asking the question of how we could get more people swimming and how we could address the potential barriers to participation that exist through what we have learned from a gym setting.

DC Leisure decided to enter the competition as we felt it was an innovative idea and a natural progression for the fitness industry to show diversification of fitness into non-gym areas such as a swimming pool.

After we won the award, Councillor Chris Short, Cabinet Member for Healthier Communities at Amber Valley Borough Council commented: "The Flame awards are the Oscars for the fitness industry, and the partnership achievement here cannot be underestimated.”

For Jackie Goacher, General Manager of William Gregg VC Leisure Centre, winning meant that the hard work of her and her team had been recognised but most importantly it was the recognition from the FIA (Fitness Industry Association) and the sector that their focus went beyond the gym.

The coverage gained since winning this award has provided DC Leisure with further opportunities to develop the programme and attract external partners such as Sport England who are funding the roll out of Swim4Health as well as Kelloggs and the ASA who have invested into a poolside instructor training session for regular swimmers.

In addition DC Leisure has now built links with Weight Watchers and used the Swim4Health programme and Spark of Innovation award as a pivotal point to move this relationship forward.  By tailoring Swim4Health and working in partnership with Weight Watchers DC Leisure are helping tackle the issues of overweight and obesity.

Winning the Spark of Innovation award really was the catalyst for the continued development and success of Swim4Health, and we would encourage any FIA members considering entering either the Operator or Supplier categories of the Award this year to bite the bullet and get their entries in; winning really can change the face of your business.

Entries for the Spark of Innovation must be received by 10^th April. Click here for more information on how to enter or call Pete on: 020 7420 8571

2010 FLAME Conference

As we start a new decade 'change' seems to be the key theme - we might have a change of government: the economy will look and behave differently from the way it did in the last 10 years: the way we view the health agenda - politically, professionally and as 'consumers' of healthcare services - has to change, because as a nation and as tax payers, we have no option.
The question for us as an industry is what does ‘change’ look like. Not just in terms of how will we change but more importantly, how do we have to change. For me it’s not enough to talk about improving service levels. We have to change our DNA – what we offer, how we deliver it, when we deliver it, where we deliver it, to whom we deliver it to, how we measure what we have delivered, how we assess and analyse that information, what we learn from it and what we do with it.

Who will be our new partners? If the noughties were about partnering with Government (tick: done that) who are our new partners?

Doctors?
Food companies?
Media companies?

The industry is like a teenager becoming a youth. There are things we cannot and should not change – our personality, our energy, our ability to innovate and adapt – but there are qualities and attributes we have to evolve and cultivate IF we want to be taken seriously. What are these things?

Coming up is a starter for 10, from experts who think as passionately as they do innovatively about where we are and what we have to do. They are the keynote speakers at the industry’s 2010 FLAME Conference (date for your diary.......14th July 2010........Cheltenham race course).

What do you think?

David Stalker
Executive Director
Fitness Industry Association