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January is a difficult month for many of us. It’s dark, cold, wet and the glow of the festive season feels a long time ago.

But it’s also a moment when millions of people make a conscious decision to reset – to move more and invest in their health.

That’s why January matters so much for gyms, swimming pools and leisure centres. It’s consistently their busiest month of the year and not just because of New Year’s resolutions.

But beyond the first month of the year, there is a growing understanding that physical activity is preventative medicine and that a healthy population drives a healthy economy.

The places we move are of critical importance.

Earlier this week, alongside ukactive, I visited three very different facilities in one day – across both the public and private sector.

What struck me was how similar the stories were.

Operators talked about strong footfall, rising memberships and people coming through the doors for more than just exercise.

They’re coming for health, of course – but also for confidence, connection, and support.

This feels vitally important in a time that is characterised by increasing isolation, screens and polarised views.

Spaces open to everybody

Another feature which stood out was the remarkable diversity of the people there – from teenagers arriving in their uniforms after school, to the group of retirees who had originally been referred by the next door hospital and now were coming four days a week (and spending as much time over lunch as in the class).

It was also fantastic to see the level of innovation and use of technology to bring health and leisure closer together – with sophisticated health checks, devising personalised programmes for each individual, linking to 'e-gyms' and other virtual support.

This is the preventative health agenda in action. It’s getting active from the ground up and it sits at the heart of our ambition at Sport England, working with our partners to help millions more people become active.

January brings this ambition to life, but the real story is what’s happening year-round.

The scale and growth of the gym and leisure sector are significant.

The UK Health & Fitness Market Report 2025 shows a record 11.5 million people are now members of a health or fitness club – up 6.1% on the previous year – with 616 million facility visits recorded, an increase of 8.2%.

These are not short-term spikes. Participation has been growing over consecutive years, supported by a unique infrastructure of public, private, large, medium and independent operators working across the country.
 

Sport England’s Active Lives Adults survey 2023-24 reinforces this picture.

Fitness activities and swimming continue to be major drivers of physical activity behind walking, with 904,000 more adults taking part compared to the previous year.

Demand is being driven by what people value most.

Polling from ukactive shows that 77% of members join a gym or leisure facility primarily to improve their mental health and wellbeing.

People also cite better sleep, increased confidence, managing health conditions and making new friends. This is about quality of life, not just physical fitness.

We’re also seeing important shifts in who is taking part. Female participation continues to grow, particularly through group exercise and classes.

Projects like Safer Spaces to Move, delivered with This Girl Can, are helping to remove barriers and make facilities more welcoming and safer for women.

Key community assets

Our latest Moving Communities report shows participation in public leisure has increased for every age group over 45, while gym activity is rising among under-16s, over-65s and people living in the most deprived communities.

Since 2017, the number of children and young people taking part in gym and fitness activity has increased by more than 12%.

Standards matter too. Facilities are improving every year, driven by initiatives such as The Active Standard, Quest and FitCert, ensuring that quality, safety and inclusion keep pace with growing demand.

All of this sits squarely within the Government’s priorities for economic growth and improving the NHS through the 10-year plan.

Health drives wealth and the social value created by being active is immense.

The sector contributes £122.9 billion in social value each year, including £15.9 billion in healthcare savings and £106.9 billion in wellbeing value – the equivalent of £2,600 per active adult – and more than double that for people with long-term health conditions or disabilities.

We gain £6 billion in productivity, thanks to a healthier workforce that takes fewer sick days.

The sector creates £5.7 billion in revenue and supports hundreds of thousands of jobs, many for young people at the start of their working lives.

These are extraordinary numbers.

January is important. But the real opportunity lies beyond it.

Gyms and leisure centres are not just places we go at the start of the year; they – and the people that work in them – are essential community assets, powering healthier lives, stronger communities and a more resilient economy all year round.
 

When most people picture senior Black men, they don’t immediately see us smashing forehand drives, diving for edge-of-the-table shots or celebrating doubles-wins with a triumphant chest bump (yes, it happens!).

But step inside an Over 50s Black Men Forum Table Tennis Centre and you’ll quickly realise that the sport is not just a pastime – it is medicine. It is therapy. And it is comedy.

A ping-pong ball, we often say, can travel faster than a GP appointment letter, making these centres our hidden health clubs.

But behind the rallies and the laughter, there is serious work underway.

A man that had survived a stroke mentioned that, as well as camaraderie and encouragement, table tennis had helped him physically by helping him improve hand-eye coordination, building his confidence and combating post-stroke fatigue.

These voices remind us that this forum is more than sport. It is hope, dignity, recovery and community.

Rewriting the narrative

Black History Month is here and the importance of rewriting health inequality narratives becomes even clearer.

Too often older Black men are described as "hard to reach”, but our response is simple: “we are not hard to reach; we are not being seen”.

The reality is stark – Black men in the UK shoulder a disproportionate burden of chronic disease.

Rates of hypertension, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and type 2 diabetes remain consistently higher than those of their White counterparts.

And we can’t forget that Black men are also more at risk of prostate cancer, so it's always a good idea to use Prostate Cancer UK’s risk-checker.

These inequalities are deeply rooted and cannot be resolved overnight, yet the work of the Over 50s Black Men Forum shows what is possible when solutions are shaped by, and for, the community.

By creating culturally-relevant, community-led, spaces we have not only encouraged men to take part in sport, but also to engage in their own health and wellbeing.

They arrive for the table tennis, but they return with their friends and, together, they build something far greater than the game itself: a hidden health club where camaraderie, wellness and dignity thrive.

Our first regional competition

This September, we hosted the UK’s first Older Black Men Community Table Tennis Competition, bringing nearly 70 men together from Essex and Bedfordshire. The atmosphere was electric!

Chelmsford proudly lifted the singles trophy, while Luton triumphed in the doubles. There were cheers, groans and more than one disputed line call.

Even Westminster took notice and Sarah Owen, MP for Luton North, celebrated her local players with a shout-out in Parliament.

Table Tennis England joined us in the hall, the Mayor of Luton presented trophies and the Sport England logo stood proudly across the venue.

It was more than a competition; it was a statement that older Black men belong in the story of sport, health and community.

Serving the future

We are proud of what has been built so far, with seven hubs running and more on the way. But this is just the beginning.

Our vision is to embed these centres nationwide, creating a network where sport and health go hand-in-hand for older Black men.

And the best part? The model is replicable!

What works in Luton can work in Leeds and what works in Southend can work in Sheffield, because at its core, this is not just about table tennis.

It is about dignity, community and the belief that everyone deserves the chance to live longer, healthier and happier lives.
 

Since 2018, we’ve worked with Sport England towards a healthier, more inclusive society.

Becoming a system partner in 2022 has allowed us to develop a more direct relationship with local communities, which in turn has help us create stronger partnerships and drive large-scale impact.

Through collaboration, Beat the Street evolved from a game into a community tool, improving public health through cross-sector partnerships and local engagement.

Beat the Street allows partners to engage across a community by working closely with people, local organisations and assets, such as parks and canals, to make a shift in behaviours and attitudes in order to deliver positive, lasting change.

At its core, Beat the Street is a free, real-life game designed to encourage people to move more, explore their local areas and connect with their communities.

Its purpose is to connect people to each other and their place and it works as a major event where the participants are the residents – whether these are adults or children.

We also believe that health is created in and by communities and that our role is to create the supportive conditions to enable it. 

We use our Sport England system partner funding to champion policy asks to improve health through movement, using insight to make the case and working closely with many partners to build a unified voice.

For 2025, our policy priorities are underpinned by these beliefs and the vision for a better future that must include children’s voices.

In a nutshell, our policy focus includes:

• creating healthy childhoods
• activating healthy and engaged communities
• designing healthy places
• nurturing thriving, natural environments
• walking, wheeling and cycling towards an active nation.

Driving systemic change at scale

We use our delivery funding to unlock local funding and support from public health, transport and integrated care board partners for places. 

With at least 10% of the local population taking part, Beat the Street builds a narrative on how good health could be, with everyone working together with a clear purpose, using the programme as a platform to prototype new ways of working in a place.

The evidenced behavioural change continually benefits the participants well beyond the intervention, with positive outcomes lasting at least two years and possibly longer.  

There is so much positive activity already happening in place, but it often is in siloes.

We now see that Beat the Street’s galvanising mechanics bring partners together, supporting policy and professional practices.

The programme also surfaces rich data and marginalised voices tackling structural inequalities by working with local institutions and assets, plus it enables people to act in ways that strengthen them both as individuals and their roles in the community.  

We understand that Beat the Street's real impact is in social connection, increased feelings of belonging and trust across a place.

Ultimately, the programme has shown that even small, sustainable steps toward active living can have lasting impacts on community health and social connectedness.

This sustainability manifests itself in three key ways:

• Shared purpose – there is value and energy in bringing partners and community together, developing collective purpose.
• Insight-led direction - using insight to inform next steps.
• Behavioural change - building trust, sense of belonging and agency for citizens that enable small changes in daily behaviour, now and in the future.

We're really proud of what the programme has achieved so far. To date, Sport England’s Beat the Street has engaged 754,000 participants.

The programme has:

• achieved 10% of population engagement on average, comprising 48% adults and 52% children.
• reached a third of participants (27%) belonging to areas of Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) 1 and 2 (the two most deprived areas in a classification of five areas in England). Out of the people reached, 69% are women and 19% have disabilities or a long-term health condition.
• engaged with 1042 schools, 1133 community groups and workplaces.

In terms of behavioural change, the data from 31,461 matched pairs across 31 Sport England games shows an average 9% decrease in adult inactivity and 7% reduction in proportion of less active children.

However, the greater change was seen in adults with a disability or long-term conditions, showing an 18% decrease of inactive adults and, for girls, a 9% decrease in less active.

But the impact goes beyond just physical activity as Beat The Street fosters social interaction, strengthens community ties and improves mental wellbeing.

We will also continue to work across the country, including a return to Burnley for the third time as they use Beat the Street to drive forward their collective Outdoor Town vision.

It’s been an incredible journey and eight years in it feels like we are only getting started!
 

November is National Diabetes Month, which brings us an opportunity to consider those living with this long-term health condition.

Without intervention and management, diabetes can limit a person's life satisfaction and can affect all sorts of opportunities including the enjoyment of work and leisure.

According to Diabetes UK, nearly 10% of the Blackburn with Darwen population has this long-term condition and more people have been diagnosed with it in the borough than anywhere else in the North West.

So in June 2024 we began working with Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council and other partners to bring We Are Undefeatable to communities across our region.

We Are Undefeatable is a national behaviour change campaign which encourages people with long-term health conditions to stay active.

Exactly what we needed!

But we wanted it to really resonate and to have maximum impact and for that we needed to make the campaign relevant to our residents.

Combining national efforts with local faces

Developed by 15 leading health and social care charities and backed by The National Lottery funding from Sport England, We Are Undefeatable supports people with a range of health conditions, including (but not limited to) arthritis, Alzheimer’s, asthma, cancer, dementia, heart disease and diabetes.

Through We Are Undefeatable, we wanted to support our residents living with these long-term health conditions to lead a full life and to show them that they can actually improve their physical and mental wellbeing by being active.

So, together with partners across the borough, we sought to localise the campaign by featuring Blackburn with Darwen residents living with these conditions and signposting others to local services. 

We created bus shelter adverts, images for digital screens in the town centres and a social campaign across multiple accounts and platforms with pictures of our residents living with long-term health conditions being active, and – more importantly – feeling the benefits derived from it.

From boxing and wild swimming to cycling and walking, these inspiring individuals showcased the diverse ways to be active, regardless of their condition.

One of these residents was Ralph. 

Ralph has had two heart attacks, a heart bypass and lives with Type 2 Diabetes, which led to him becoming visually impaired.

In films, photos, in print and online, we showed that Ralph loves to swim and how he walks whenever he can to keep as active as possible.    

This approach is working! 

We’ve seen the power of a localised health initiative, in partnership with a national campaign, to help tackle and reduce health inequalities in our borough.

Working together, we took a whole-systems approach to tackling physical inactivity.

We engaged all stakeholders, including council and health leaders, community, voluntary organisations, the wider public sector, private business and local communities themselves, to make a significant difference to the health and wellbeing of our residents.

Using data-driven insights, including population health data at ward-level, and collaborating with a diverse array of partners, the campaign has gone above and beyond initial expectations and made significant impacts in targeted communities.

The collective strength that resides within our communities is inspiring and empowering.

Through localising We Are Undefeatable and through people like Ralph, we’ve shown the transformative power of collaboration and how together we can create a culture of health and wellbeing in Blackburn with Darwen and beyond.
 

Last week, I chaired a roundtable of leaders and experts at the House of Lords exploring how the NHS can better utilise movement and exercise to meet its current challenges.

The occasion was hosted by Baroness Amanda Sater, a committed advocate for young people’s participation in sport.

It was a rich and wide-ranging discussion with contributions from NHS England, MPs and peers from both sides of the bench, primary care and public health specialists, health charities and movement, sport and exercise organisations.

The importance of our personal experiences

I kicked off the conversation with the reflection that each person’s experience of movement, health and wellbeing is different.

Our experiences are impacted by the community we live in and how we engage with professional services, and they also depend on a wide-ranging, skilled and well-equipped workforce.

This reminded me that active people are the best advocates for getting active.

There was a strong echo of this point as we discussed how supporting the NHS workforce to get active themselves could be a significant way to unlock a movement to encourage patients to increase their activity levels.

Opportunities for change

Our national partnerships lead, Suzy Gardner, presented what we refer to as the three key opportunities for change – working with the NHS, changing attitudes to risk and making the most of physical activity to improve mental health.

In response to these, the group discussed:

• The need to work together more, to speak as one voice with a clear message.
• How GPs are reimagining primary care services.
• The need for training and development for health practitioners.
• The significant benefits and some of the limitations of physical activity for individual and community health.
• The opportunity to work locally and hyper-locally to create health and wellbeing services that blend primary care, community connection and opportunities to move more.
• The need for full participation of children and young people in driving change with us.

The premise of our discussion was that, given the strength of evidence, physical activity can be better utilised as a tool to help deliver key health outcomes and priorities, helping to reduce the challenges the health system is currently facing.

It was only a few weeks ago that we were celebrating the 75th anniversary of the NHS, and the  transformation and changes needed to enable it to weather the extreme strains it's under.

The UK Chief Medical Officers were most eloquent when they compared physical activity with “a miracle cure” because of all the illnesses it can help prevent and treat.

This is a reference we’ve used in the past in our work and it appeals to the core of our long-term strategy, Uniting the Movement.

We know that, even in small amounts, moving our bodies is beneficial at all stages of life, particularly for the most inactive individuals where the greatest health gains can be made.

We also know that individuals and communities want support, with one in four saying that they would get active if told to do so by their doctor or nurse.

And this is just the tip of a growing evidence base!

Social prescribing and sound advice from health professionals are key to shifting people’s habits but significant structural barriers remain.

Overcoming these requires all of us to be brave in designing services that cut across traditional institutional boundaries and keep people at their heart.

Working together 

At Sport England, we want to accelerate and amplify the work we have done with partners in this space.

Our resolve to build a coalition of allies that can help us advocate for the value and role of physical activity, to improve the population's health and to help reduce health inequalities is stronger than ever.

But this is not work we can do alone – we need trusting, long-term partnerships.

Our key priority moving forward is to work closely with partners and places to continue to understand the key policy changes required that can enable the right conditions for physical activity to integrate, particularly through local integrated care partnerships and boards.

It was clear in the room that we’re starting to build momentum for change and we finished the round table by committing to take action together.

We are really excited by the opportunities that lie ahead and will continue to evolve our approach and our coalition of partners to strengthen the connections between sport, physical activity, health and wellbeing.

The digital divide is caused by barriers such as a lack of digital skills, but also low access to devices, internet connectivity and poorly planned accessibility for disabled people.

So this is something we want to highlight and make sure we help overcome by using the right approaches to help people engage with sport and physical activity, be it with non-digital or digital skills support, to ensure no-one is left behind.    

We have explored alternatives to digital support in campaigns like We Are Undefeatable and TV and tabloid press have been highlighted as good alternatives to reaching people who are digitally excluded.

But if we agree digital platforms are useful and go with the digital direction of travel, we need to be teaching people the skills to use them.

This is a strong need, not only from a human perspective, but also from an economic one.

The benefits of being online

The Centre for Economics and Business Research has calculated that just shy of £10 of economic profit is achieved for every £1 invested in digital skills.

The problem is that traditional digital skills courses sometimes overlook the importance of teaching people how to use digital platforms to be physically active - be that by finding things like equipment, booking pitches or using online workout platforms.

But a good example of solving this issue is the Get Out Get Active initiative. This campaign provided activity sessions for disabled people alongside digital skills sessions to help them grow in confidence and find other suitable activities.

This is the kind of blended approach that we need to follow to make sure everybody is able to make the most of any digital opportunities.