Mark Wood was one of the members of Fitness Express staff to visit Uganda
Compassion believes connecting one child with one sponsor is the most strategic way to end childhood poverty. Its Child Sponsorship Programme aims to provide long-term funding for food, health, hygiene and education. For Mosaic – the new parent company
brand for Fitness Express since 2011 – writing the occasional cheque to the charity was never going to be enough, and so it was the child sponsorship programme it focused on. Staff at Fitness Express and Imagine Spa, the company’s two operating businesses, were invited to suggest a single country on which to concentrate their support. Uganda was eventually chosen from a shortlist of six countries.
A long-term commitment Child sponsorship is no fleeting ice bucket challenge, as lifting children out of poverty takes patience and long-term funding. Mosaic agreed that, for every club and spa it operates, it would clothe, feed and educate a child in Uganda. Mosaic’s corporate mission is ‘making
a difference to people’s lives’, so this programme is perfectly aligned with the work it undertakes every day in its clubs.
October 2014 © Cybertrek 2014
As I write, the lives of 30 Ugandan
children are being forever changed thanks to the compassion and generosity of Mosaic’s staff and members. Over the past nine years of the partnership, the company has been quietly supporting 40 children and has invested £100,000.
Staff & member engagement Each Fitness Express club has a Compassion board on display, to show how their sponsored child is progressing and to encourage members to participate. Staff write to sponsored children, send birthday cards and Christmas gifts, and the children write back depending on their literacy. The clubs are encouraged to raise funds for the project over and above
their sponsorship for individual children; this pays for additional clothes, food and education. Members have also been inspired to directly sponsor other children, thereby creating a wider ripple effect. Meanwhile, in-club fundraising has provided more than £40,000 to help fund improvements in the communities where these children live, including a new playground to promote their physical and emotional development. As Taylor says: “The Compassion
initiative has been successful in providing a focus for Mosaic, its staff and customers to work together to achieve something that’s very worthwhile. The visit of three of our managers to Uganda was also very powerful in the staff engagement process.” ●
IN A NUTSHELL Project by: Mosaic Spa & Health Clubs Website:
www.mosaicgroup.co.uk Project status: Ongoing and long-term Charity supported: Compassion UK Impact: Uganda, east Africa Gymtopia keywords: Clothing & Shelter, Education, Food & Nutrition, Health & Wellbeing, Helping Children
Read Health Club Management online at
healthclubmanagement.co.uk/digital 47
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