ukactive is calling for the Cycle to Work scheme to be scaled up further / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
More people, more active, more often. That’s the unwavering mission statement of ukactive, and this month sees the unveiling of our latest initiative in support of this quest.
Blueprint for an Active Britain has been a long time in the making. It’s a vision document setting out what (as well as where and how) the government – in close collaboration with the physical activity sector – can do to get our sedentary nation moving again.
It covers a number of key areas such as public health, the role of the NHS, the wellbeing workforce, active travel and active workplaces, as well as looking at ways to promote activity within under-represented groups such as people with a disability and older adults.
We haven’t come to these conclusions alone. The Blueprint is a stakeholder-led document, produced in consultation and with the support of big charities such as Mind, Age UK and the British Heart Foundation, as well as numerous individual supporters including former Children’s Commissioner Sir Al-Aynsley Green and Lord Darzi, government advisor on health.
This report allows ukactive and the activity sector to put forward one cohesive proposition at a time when government engagement with the sector has never been keener.
Call for action For example, we’re calling on the NHS to appoint a physical activity tsar to fully integrate physical activity into care pathways for long-term conditions. We’d like to see an NHS workforce physical activity scheme too, to get doctors and nurses moving themselves. We’re seeking an innovative partnership with public health, with a greater involvement of the sector and inclusion of private enterprise. And we aim to put an exercise professional in every GP surgery, further integrating activity professionals into the core delivery of health and wellbeing.
The Blueprint calls for an enhanced role for the traditional sector too, recommending that the Department for Business recognise the provision of leisure as the provision of healthcare, cutting red tape for operators – thereby reducing the cost of trade and facilitating a focus on innovative new programmes – as well as supporting local authorities via local partnerships that are designed to both protect and grow leisure services.
We’re also calling for the Cycle to Work scheme to be scaled up, giving employers access to classes or gym memberships as part of wider ‘personalised activity plans’ for individuals or families; these could include children’s activity camps or other pursuits. We’re calling for these policies to be underpinned by a cross-government, cross-departmental physical activity strategy, building on the existing work by the DCMS and Public Health England to lay the foundations for a more active society.
Pushing the agenda Preventable long-term conditions cost the UK £121bn a year, so these policy ambitions and asks of government are unashamedly ambitious and vitally needed. Over the next year, ukactive will be pushing to ensure the visions set out in the Blueprint are realised.
Active Blackpool is deploying Cornerstone Connect, a new digital interface allowing
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its focus on reducing health inequalities and improving healthy life expectancy. [more...]
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ukactive
ukactive is the UK’s leading trade body for the physical activity sector, bringing together more tha [more...]
Everyone Active
Everyone Active operates leisure centres in partnership with local councils across the UK. Today, Ev [more...]
ukactive is calling for the Cycle to Work scheme to be scaled up further / SHUTTERSTOCK.COM
More people, more active, more often. That’s the unwavering mission statement of ukactive, and this month sees the unveiling of our latest initiative in support of this quest.
Blueprint for an Active Britain has been a long time in the making. It’s a vision document setting out what (as well as where and how) the government – in close collaboration with the physical activity sector – can do to get our sedentary nation moving again.
It covers a number of key areas such as public health, the role of the NHS, the wellbeing workforce, active travel and active workplaces, as well as looking at ways to promote activity within under-represented groups such as people with a disability and older adults.
We haven’t come to these conclusions alone. The Blueprint is a stakeholder-led document, produced in consultation and with the support of big charities such as Mind, Age UK and the British Heart Foundation, as well as numerous individual supporters including former Children’s Commissioner Sir Al-Aynsley Green and Lord Darzi, government advisor on health.
This report allows ukactive and the activity sector to put forward one cohesive proposition at a time when government engagement with the sector has never been keener.
Call for action For example, we’re calling on the NHS to appoint a physical activity tsar to fully integrate physical activity into care pathways for long-term conditions. We’d like to see an NHS workforce physical activity scheme too, to get doctors and nurses moving themselves. We’re seeking an innovative partnership with public health, with a greater involvement of the sector and inclusion of private enterprise. And we aim to put an exercise professional in every GP surgery, further integrating activity professionals into the core delivery of health and wellbeing.
The Blueprint calls for an enhanced role for the traditional sector too, recommending that the Department for Business recognise the provision of leisure as the provision of healthcare, cutting red tape for operators – thereby reducing the cost of trade and facilitating a focus on innovative new programmes – as well as supporting local authorities via local partnerships that are designed to both protect and grow leisure services.
We’re also calling for the Cycle to Work scheme to be scaled up, giving employers access to classes or gym memberships as part of wider ‘personalised activity plans’ for individuals or families; these could include children’s activity camps or other pursuits. We’re calling for these policies to be underpinned by a cross-government, cross-departmental physical activity strategy, building on the existing work by the DCMS and Public Health England to lay the foundations for a more active society.
Pushing the agenda Preventable long-term conditions cost the UK £121bn a year, so these policy ambitions and asks of government are unashamedly ambitious and vitally needed. Over the next year, ukactive will be pushing to ensure the visions set out in the Blueprint are realised.
The UK's four Chief Medical Officers have published a refreshed edition of Physical activity
guidelines: UK Chief Medical Officers' report, updating the evidence that underpins the nation's
physical activity recommendations and placing greater emphasis on strength, balance, reducing
sedentary behaviour and, for the first time, supporting people taking weight loss medications.
Places Leisure has exchanged contracts to build and operate a flagship £60m water and leisure
destination on behalf of Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council.
The Republic of Ireland will become the latest market in PureGym’s expanding international
portfolio, with the first launch planned for Dublin in 2027.
Anytime Fitness opened more than one club a day in 2025 and is on track to maintain this rate
of growth this year, as parent company Purpose Brands targets further international expansion.
The £33.9 million Leighton Leisure and Community Centre has opened in Leighton Buzzard, UK,
creating a next-generation public leisure, health and wellbeing hub for the local community.
Walnuts Leisure Centre in Orpington, in the London Borough of Bromley, has reopened following
a £17m transformation designed to secure the long-term future of the public leisure asset and
reposition it as a community wellbeing hub.
The Gym Group, has announced that it's sustained positive trading momentum has continued
through the first half of 2026 and the company remains confident about the outlook.
Luxury boutique Pilates and wellness studio, X-Club, officially launches a
4,000sq ft flagship at
Marylebone on 16 July Built around X-Club’s four pillars of wellness – mind,
movement,
nutrition and therapy – the facility features two group exercise studi
Active Blackpool is deploying Cornerstone Connect, a new digital interface allowing
disparate information from multiple systems to be aggregated into one dataset, to support
its focus on reducing health inequalities and improving healthy life expectancy. [more...]
Panatta brought together four of the most influential figures in bodybuilding history on the
stage of RiminiWellness 2026: Phil Heath, Lee Haney, Ronnie Coleman and Hany Rambod. [more...]
+ More featured suppliers
COMPANY PROFILES
ukactive ukactive is the UK’s leading trade body for the physical activity sector, bringing together more tha [more...]
