The Everything App has launched aimed at getting UK health workers and their families active with on-demand, live-streamed and in-person fitness and wellbeing activities.
This is both an act of generosity from the fitness industry and a commercial opportunity.
With more than 1.8 million staff, the UK's National Health Service is the nation's largest employer.
Free fitness, wellbeing and lifestyle support for staff and their immediate families is provided, including on-demand and live-streamed sessions, plus discounted local, in-person sessions bookable through the app.
Activities are tailored for health and social care professionals and include fitness, nutrition, mental health and wellbeing sessions ranging from 10 minutes to one hour, including Pilates, yoga, strength training, meditation and family workouts.
The initiative is led by a steering group including Julie Davis the former deputy chief operating officer of the National Institute for Health and Care Research Delivery Network; Anthony Franklin, CEO of Fibodo; Active Insight director, David Monkhouse and trade body, UK Active.
The app was orignally launched in 2020 by partners Active IQ, fibodo and Study Active, inspired by Julie Davis.
It was previously called DoingOurBit and then rebranded to The Active Hub before being relaunched as The Everything App (not be be confused with Elon Musk's Everything App).
In its previous incarnations, the app has been adopted by 158 NHS Trusts (79 per cent) and a further 40 NHS organisations, including Integrated Care Boards, GP practices, care homes and ambulance services.
NHS wellbeing leads will gain access to real-time data showing workforce engagement in exercise to support evidence-based health outcomes.
Recent data shows that 2.1 million full time equivalent days are lost each inthe NHS due to staff sickness, driven by stress, mental health challenges and musculoskeletal issues. These figures have worsened since the pandemic.
“The Everything App breaks down participation barriers for users and gives the physical activity sector a gateway to a huge, traditionally hard-to-reach audience,” says Franklin. “Through its search and book functions, the ecosystem provides a place where people can begin their journey with movement, taking it into the real world as their confidence grows.”
Monkhouse says: “The Everything App is not just about generating a health impact, it’s also about creating a commercial opportunity for fitness professionals and organisations to help grow the physical activity sector and embed its position as a key delivery partner in the achievement of governments' national physical activity and health ambitions.”
The creators are calling on the industry to get involved by adding their services to the app which has an addressable audience of five million people. A discount of at least 25 per cent should be offered and there are no listing or marketing charges.
Already on board is Fusion, which has created a lanes product which will be available to app users during off-peak periods. Snap Fitness is creating an introduction to health and wellbeing product and each club will offer one session per week.
Swim England, Clubbercise and Yogavibes have also signed up.
