Minutes:
Mr Matthew Eady, Regional Manager (Bromley and South) and Ms Rose Webb, Director of Brand, Product and Wellbeing, Mytime Active gave a presentation providing an update on health and wellbeing initiatives being delivered by Mytime Active.
Mytime Active was founded in Bromley in 2004, as a not for profit organisation and a registered charity, with the mission to improve the wellbeing of the people in the local community. Mytime Active offered hundreds of different products and services in their portfolio, across all ages and life stages.
Work had been undertaken to profile the Bromley community, with 2,500 people asked to consider their relationship with wellbeing and the barriers to behavioural change. The company’s mission was the ‘Theory of Change’ model, which put wellbeing at the heart of everything they did and looked at the mechanics of how users could connect with their own wellbeing.
Mytime Active was a large employer in the borough, employing 850 staff, the majority of whom were Bromley residents. There were 3.6 million visits per annum to their facilities, and Mytime Active had a growing membership of regular users which had exceeded 20,000 during the summer of 2018. There were 162,000 attendances at the three soft play facilities in the borough; 7,500 children learning to swim weekly; and 84 schools engaged in swimming lessons.
For older adults, Mytime Active had introduced the Primetime programme, which offered 85 weekly activity sessions and an annual timetable of social events to help tackle loneliness and isolation. The Primetime programme had in excess of 2,700 members and there were 650,000 attendances at sessions per annum from older people. They had 24 volunteer ‘Primetime Buddies’ who provided help and support, and there was strong working partnerships with organisations such as Bromley Dementia Action Alliance.
Work was also undertaken with targeted adults, who were referred by their GP’s onto programmes delivered by exercise specialists at Mytime Active. These included ‘Heartsmart’ for people with established heart disease and ‘Escape Pain’, a chronic pain management programme for people with arthritic pain. The ‘Fresh Start’ programme for people with defined medical conditions received 1,600 referrals from GP’s and hospital departments and 9,000 attendances at sessions, per annum.
Programmes targeted at children and young people were offered by Mytime Active, who were working closely with the LBB Children Looked After Team – providing free memberships for 0-18 year olds, and giving care leavers opportunities for training, apprenticeships and employment. Other programmes delivered included ‘My Future’, a community sports programme; ‘Arts Train’, a creative music project; and before and after school clubs which were Ofsted registered.
Mytime Active also managed community programmes such as the London Youth Games, at which Team Bromley had been crowned champions for 2018, and Santa Dash races taking place in Orpington and Bromley. Anyone wishing to take part could sign up at https://www.mytimeactive.co.uk/santa-dash.
Mytime Active were committed to staff wellbeing, offering free leisure and golf memberships, and running a programme of Head Office activities which included pilates, run club, table tennis and strength and conditioning. They welcomed the opportunity to create positive relationships with local businesses, and support them in improving the wellbeing of their staff.
Members asked if Mytime Active targeted areas of the borough that tended to be under engaged. Mr Eady responded that a project had taken place during the summer in the Cray Valleys which tackled ‘holiday hunger’ for those children that received free school meals. Other projects had included the ‘Arts Train’ which introduced Children Looked After to the arts, and festivals at the Churchill Theatre which allowed children to compose their own music and preform it to others. In response to a question, Ms Webb said that Mytime Active were open to working with the Youth Offending Services, and she had experience of doing so in a previous role.
The Vice-Chairman enquired if Mytime Active provided the same health and leisure offer across other boroughs. Ms Webb responded that Mytime Active managed a range of programmes and health, leisure and golf facilities across London, Kent, the Midlands and the South Coast. Projects tended to be piloted in one area, before being reapplied, and adapted if needed, in others areas.
Members asked if the number of new gyms and leisure provisions opening provided a challenge commercially to Mytime Active. Ms Webb responded that it was considered to be a good thing, as overall wellbeing was being increased. When a new gym opened, Mytime Active would look at what they were providing, map it, and predict what their members needed. This allowed them to keep an eye on the market, and the key was programming and trialling new things.
Members enquired as to how Mytime Active got their message across to such a wide range of people. Ms Webb replied that this had been a challenge, and they were now segmenting every campaign and changing how they messaged users. Following the profiling work undertaken, Mytime Active were now tailoring the content of messages, and the images used, to be relevant to the recipient.
Members asked if the information received from the profiling work had given an indication as to how people travelled to Mytime Active’s facilities, as this was thought to be important for indicating how the hub of Bromley worked. Ms Webb replied that they were aware of where their current membership was based and where they travelled to. There was due to be an upgrade to the core system, which would allow them to ‘open the doors’ to receiving this type of information.
The Chairman thanked Mr Eady and Ms Webb for their most interesting presentation.