interview So what are those reasons for
inactivity, and how is Active Nation addressing them? “When we did our roadshows, even
among our own staff we came across lots of reasons why people don’t exercise: ‘I’d love to be fitter, but I don’t want to walk through the door of the leisure centre’ or ‘I don’t have time – my priority is making sure the kids get home from school’ or ‘I’d love to be able to play tennis but I know I’d be rubbish at it’. Some are practical reasons; others are quite emotional. But it reinforced a lot of what we’d already been thinking: that we have to take our offering out into the community, for example, and then maybe one day people will be ready to come into our centres. “And if they do come through our doors,
what’s really going to make a difference? If I walk into a typical leisure centre, I’m probably met with a load of messages that say, ‘we’re proud to welcome you to our club… our qualifi ed personnel will give you excellent service…’ etc etc. You can see those signs everywhere, but it’s irrelevant. Why does an organisation need to make those statements? As a consumer, I’d expect all that as standard. “If I’ve walked in there for the fi rst
time, something that might actually make a difference would be a life-sized image of someone accompanied by a caption that read: ‘I’m Sarah – I played netball last week for the fi rst time in 15 years’, or ‘This is Tracy – she just became the youngest person to swim 25 metres in our pool’. Real people who’ve done real things. That’s far more meaningful and can inspire people to try it for themselves. “We’re also trying to develop a
conversational culture; in my experience, everything in life starts with a conversation. If someone tells you about a great holiday they had in Turkey, for example, even though you might never have considered going there before,
Online campaigns help Active Nation communicate with people in areas where it has no facilities
you’re much more likely to fi nd out more about it as a result of that conversation than if you’d seen leafl ets or posters. So we don’t have lots of brochures. It’s not very environmentally friendly for starters, but also, if our staff have conversations with people, those people are then much more likely to feel they could have a go at tennis, netball or swimming.”
trying new things He continues: “We make excuses in this country. We have an image of sport as not being a worthwhile pursuit and we make excuses for the word ‘fitness’ or the word ‘exercise’ – we believe we have to use the word ‘activity’, otherwise we’ll put people off. But I think it’s better to take the bull by the horns. “I’m the fi rst to admit we don’t have
all the answers, but we’re trying out some new ideas. We have our ‘Sport in No Time’ sessions, for example. On the ski slope at our Aldershot centre, even if you’ve never skied before, if you start with us at nine in the morning we promise you’ll be able to ski by three in the afternoon. We offer the same for other sports such as tennis. You have to convince people that it’s possible.” Active Nation also offers packages
designed to appeal to those who are just starting out. “One size really doesn’t fi t all,” explains Oxley. “If you’re new to exercise, you need a different kind of package from somebody who’s a regular gym-goer, so we have our ‘Discover’ and ‘Explore’ packages. You might want to
32 Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital
Real people, real stories: People are more likely to try something new if they’re inspired by other members
‘Discover Fitness’ or ‘Discover Badminton’ – things you haven’t done before – or, if you already know a bit about an activity but you want to take it further, you can go on an Explore programme. “We haven’t done it yet, but I’m
also really tempted to try not selling memberships unless we truly believe people will use them. If someone comes in and hasn’t done any exercise for the last 28 days, we probably shouldn’t sell them a membership – they’re not equipped to get the most out of it. We may be better off selling them a short- term package. If they then exercise twice a week over the following six weeks, we might consider selling them a membership. It might prove to be commercial suicide, but I’m convinced it’s not all about selling memberships. It’s about promoting activity and getting people into a sustainable habit. “I just think you have to be willing to
try things. When I fi rst came in and started saying all this, a lot of people thought I was mad. Now more of them believe it’s possible. If we’re going to halt the rising obesity levels and have a society that values its health, we need to take a risk, do stuff we’ve never done before and act with a bit of conviction.”
healthclub@leisuremedia.com kate cracknell
may 2011 © cybertrek 2011
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