A Picture of the Health and Fitness ofUK Community Leisure Facilities

The

Social Fitness Report

November 2011

“The legacy from London 2012 will not come from the event itself, but from what we do to actively encourage and promote a greater involvement in sports and leisure activities. This must start within the community parks and sports facilities that everyone can access.”Roger Black MBE, Former European, World and Olympic Champion

The importance of Social Fitness

Promoting active and healthy lifestyles is a key goal for government and shapes the policies that aff ects many areas for both the public and private sectors – including local government, housing, health, leisure and community organisations.

There are two parts to achieving this aim. Firstly educating and motivating people to take personal responsibility for their health, and secondly, ensuring all communities have access to the facilities that allow people to turn their good intentions into action.

This report examines both sides of this issue within the context of ‘social fi tness’.

‘Social fi tness’ means the sports and leisure activities that can be undertaken free-of-charge within a community. It includes the use of local parks, play areas, pitches, courts, trails and pools that are freely accessible, with or without the use of a local authority leisure card.

For the majority of people in the UK (61%) these are the only sports and fi tness facilities that they use – meaning that the success of social fi tness in a community is a crucial indicator of its health.

The research contained within has been conducted to help better understand the state of social fi tness in the UK. Our purpose is to help professionals working in sports and leisure, health, local and national government, housing and community associations to better focus on the goal of improving social fi tness.

The fi ndings in this research are based on a representative nationwide survey of 2,000 adults.

The survey was commissioned on behalf of Proludic in October 2011.

The authors of this report are Steve Leigh and James Crawford. Both are communications and research professionals with over 25 years of combined experience working with the public sector, health organisations and community groups.

Over the last 20 years Proludic has become one of the world’s leading providers of play equipment, creating play and sports areas for children and adults of all ages.

About This Research

About Proludic

Steve Backley and Roger Black

“We both had very diff erent journeys to reach the Olympic Games, but one thing we had

in common were the facilities and coaching that were provided within the communities

where we were raised. This gave both of us the window of opportunity that led us to

representing Great Britain at international level.”

“We believe passionately that encouraging social fi tness, through good quality and freely available community facilities is vital to promoting healthier lifestyles and a lifelong interest in exercise, personal health and sport.

It is for this reason that we’ve given our support to Proludic’s eff orts to promote social fi tness, such as publishing and promoting this report and also through innovations such as its Sports Legacy Zone concept and the Virtual Coach.

The Sports Legacy Zone is, a varied and high quality range of exercise, sport and play equipment for all ages, we have worked with Proludic to create a range of activities and videos to support and widen its use.

Coaches, teachers, parents or individuals will be able to access this material free-of-charge to learn how to use the equipment to improve diff erent aspects of physical strength and stamina. It also provides recommendations for how to use the facilities for team activities and games.

This support is also available as instructional videos that can be viewed at the park using smartphones, by scanning the QR codes displayed on the equipment.

Through such activity and our partnership with Proludic we aim to engage young people in physical exercise that’s fun and support community coaches as part of the build up to London 2012 Olympic Games. With the aim of supporting the creation of a lasting legacy.”

Michael Hoenigmann: Managing Director, Proludic

“As someone who has been involved in the play, sports and leisure sector for 20 years, I

know how important it is to understand community needs.”

“To be successful, schemes must provide something for everyone – young and old, able and less-able, regular and casual users.

This sounds simple, but every location and community has a complex blend of issues that need to be assessed on its own merits.

Getting it right means happier, healthier and more cohesive communities. Getting it wrong creates failed public spaces that can take decades to put right.

For this reason, we see our role as being that of expert advisor rather than a provider of equipment.

This has led us to innovate with new ideas, both in terms of the schemes we create, but also ways in which we can help with the funding, community involvement and marketing of projects.

This report is the next logical step in that process, a resource to help our professional partners to make better decisions and use their increasingly scarce resources to best eff ect.

We aim to use this report to kick-start a series of debates with thought-leaders in the fi elds of health, housing, community, public policy, corporate-giving and education.

In 2012, we’ll be gathering together all of this wisdom for a second report that will attempt to create a joined-up agenda for social fi tness that will help all parties to understand how they can work together more eff ectively.

In the meantime, I’d welcome any thoughts or suggestions for future areas or study, or ways in which we might be able to work together to promote the wider cause of social fi tness in the UK.”

We asked 2,000 UK adults to consider 126 diff erent

aspects of their (and their children’s) experiences

and use of the social fi tness facilities available in

their communities.

The results provide a fascinating insight into how

such facilities are used and perceived. They also

indicate what impact has been made by recent

investment, such as the Labour government’s

£235m investment in play through the Playbuilder

and Play Pathfi nder Scheme.

Finally, we have examined what factors are most

likely to increase use of facilities and social fi tness

activities, helping to focus future investment and

planning to support strategy and policy decisions.

Social Fitness in the UK

The Need for Social Fitness Facilities

To determine the extent to which people rely on social fi tness facilities, we examined how diff erent groups made use of free or paid-for facilities for their exercise.

Finding: The majority of the population would have no exercise

without access to social fi tness facilities.

• 61% of the UK population is totally reliant on free sports and leisure facilities for structured exercise (this group spends nothing on paid-for facilities)

• This fi gure was highest for people in rural areas (71%) and for people over the age of 55 (74%)

Finding: Social fi tness facilities are used to heavily supplement the

use of paid-for facilities.

• The average amount someone in the UK spends each month of the use of a gym or sports facilities is £11.61.

• This spending was highest amongst groups with children in key stage 1 - 5 to 6 years – (£21.98) and key stage 2 – 7 to 10 years (£20.32).

• However, these high spenders still show a signifi cant need for social fi tness facilities. The research shows that people spending over £20 a month on such facilities were also heavy users of social fi tness facilities – those using free sports and leisure facilities at least twice a week.

• This indicates that people with more active lifestyles use both free and paid-for facilities in parallel rather than as an alternative to each other.

• The level of monthly spend would indicate that the use of social fi tness facilities was at least the same if not greater than that of paid-for facilities.

Finding: Over a third of the UK adult population is taking no form of

regular structured sport or exercise.

• 36% of UK adults report that they pay nothing on sports or gym facilities and make use of free sports and leisure facilities less than once a month.

The Usage of Social Fitness Facilities

Finding: One fi fth of the population can be characterised as heavy

users of social fi tness facilities.

• 22% of the population use such facilities at least twice a week.

• 7% are using facilities more than 4 days a week.

• 2% are taking part in social fi tness activity daily.

• This group of users is most likely to be:• Between the ages of 25-34• A parent with children living at home• For those children to be pre-school or in key stage 1 (5 to 6 years old).• To live in an inner-city area• Higher than average spenders on paid-for sports and gym facilities –

most likely to spend over £20 each month.• For there to have been noticeable investment to improve the quality

and availability of local facilities in the last 3 years.• For their use (and their children’s use) of social fi tness facilities to be

over 5 hours each week.

Finding: One quarter of the population can be characterised as

medium users of social fi tness facilities.

• 25% of the population use such facilities between 2 and 4 times a month.

• 15% are using facilities weekly.

• This group of users is most likely to be:• A parent with a child under the age of 1 or over the age of 7• To live in a suburban or semi-rural area• A signifi cant spread of spending on paid-for sport and gym facilities

(between £9.76 and £17.50).• To have access to best quality of free facilities, but for the availability

and quality of those facilities to be most likely to have declined in the last 3 years.

• For their children’s weekly use of social fi tness facilities to be between 4 and 5 hours per week.

The Usage of Social Fitness Facilities

Finding: Half the population can be classifi ed as light users of social

fi tness facilities.

• 52% of UK adults use social fi tness facilities once a month or less.

• This group of users is most likely to be:• Childless or have children over the age of 17.• To live in rural or semi-rural areas.• To have to drive to the nearest social fi tness facilities.• To pay below the national average for a gym or sports facilities

(range between £4.83 and £9.76)• To have the lowest quality of social fi tness facilities• To have seen the least investment in improving the availability or

quality of facilities.• To use facilities considerably less than their children if they have any.

Children’s use of facilities remains reasonably strong at between 3 and 4 hours each week.

Finding: Parks and playgrounds are the most accessible social fi tness

facilities and least likely to require a car or public transport.

• 73% of people have access to a park without need for transport.

• 59% have access to a play area, rising to 69% using transport.

Finding: The average rating for the quality of social fi tness facilities

in the UK is remarkably consistent regardless of who you are and

where you live. However, this is not due to consistent standards, but

rather an even spread of very good and very poor areas.

• In almost all circumstances the quality of facilities is rated between 5 and 6 out of 10. The UK average is 5.3 /10.

• The only notable exception is in regional areas where the average rating is 4.94/10.

• However – despite the average remaining consistent – there seems to be a fairly even spread of very poor and very good facilities.

• 52% of respondents rate the quality of local facilities at 5 /10 or below. 1 in 10 area’s facilities are rated at just 1 or 2 / 10.

• However, 66% of people rate their local facilities at 5 /10 or higher. A third of all facilities are rated at 7/10 or higher.

Availability and Quality of Facilities

Evidence of Investment

Finding: There is some evidence to suggest that investment has improved the availability of quality of facilities in the last 3 years.

• Quality and availability is more likely to have increased than decreased.

• Investment has had most signifi cant eff ect in inner city areas – 29% report increase in both availability and quality (compared to UK average of 20% and 22% respectively).

Finding: However, the impact of investment has been limited either

to specifi c areas (inner cities) or to maintaining rather than improving

the availability or quality of facilities.

• 80% report no improvement in availability or a decline in availability in the last 3 years

• 78% report no improvement in quality or a decline in quality in the last 3 years

Finding: People place a very high value on having good quality

facilities for social fi tness activities:

• 67% would be infl uenced to move to an area by the quality of facilities

• 92% believe good facilities contribute to health and well-being

• 90% believe social fi tness plays a role in promoting positive communities

• 77% believe investing in social fi tness should be a priority for public investment

Finding: Investment in the quality of social fi tness facilities has a

correlation with increased use – more so than other factors such as

availability of facilities.

• 50% of those using 4 to 5 times per week reported an increase in quality of facilities, compared to 14% of those using less than once a month

• The quality of facilities was rated highest by once a week users (5.9) and lowest by less than once a month users (4.9)

The Impact of Good Facilities

During 2012 Proludic will be leading a series of initiatives to examine how to use these insights to support the role social fi tness plays in improving the nation’s health and well-being.

We will be seeking participation from experts and partners within specialist areas such as:

• Health• Local Government• Central Government• CSR• Education• Housing

Our aim will be to examine the issues raised by this report and look

at how we can turn this insight into actionable change – ultimately

creating an agenda for improving social fi tness in the UK.

By timing this activity to coincide with London 2012, we hope to contribute to the discussions around how to achieve a meaningful legacy that increases participation in sport and contributes to greater health and fi tness.

We will also be working with partners on innovative ways to improve the quality of social fi tness within the UK – according to our research the biggest single driver of increased use and participation.

One initiative will be continuing to look at ways to promote the supported use of social fi tness facilities through our partnership with Steve Backley and Roger Black.

As well as rolling out the Sports Legacy Zone concept, we’ll also be working with local community groups, schools and coaches to make better use of the social fi tness facilities at their disposal.

Keep an eye out for some of our social fi tness challenges, using

digital and social media to raise awareness and allow people to ‘take

on’ the Olympians.

We will also continue exploring new ways to help unlock the funding required to improve social fi tness facilities – both in terms of identifying the funds that are available and exploring new models for public/private partnerships, corporate CSR and ways to make schemes self (or part) funding.

What’s Next?

Proludic LtdThe Pump House

Abbey RoadWest Bridgford

NottinghamNG2 5NE

tel: 0115 982 3980fax: 0115 982 3985

email: marketing@proludic.co.uk

We see our work in promoting social fi tness as a collaborative exercise that requires the input of individuals and organisations across a wide range of specialisms and disciplines.

If you would like to be involved, please register your interest by contacting Dave Bailey at our Nottingham Offi ce:

You can also follow our progress at

www.proludic.co.uk/socialfi tnessOr via our Facebook page

www.facebook.com/sportslegacyzone