By Danny Melling, Head of Membership Experience, ukactive
This month marks the completion of my first year at ukactive, and what a year it’s been! When I joined in November ’22 our sector was looking forward with gusto, focusing on getting back on our feet and looking ahead rather than over our shoulders. We then witnessed the ‘Omicron’ wave of COVID-19 in December ’21, Russia invading Ukraine in February ’22, and the subsequent cost of living and energy crisis we currently face.
But what I can say about my first year at ukactive is that as a community, standing together side by side with our members, we are an incredibly resilient sector and together we can, and will, use the strength and unity galvanised through the pandemic to see us through the current crisis – I have no doubt.
As part of this, working with our members is extremely valuable. ukactive continues to look at ways to progress and that is possible in part due to the results of our inaugural sector consultation which we rolled out 12 months ago. The consultation was the first significant piece of work that I was involved in at ukactive, when we went out to the entire sector to secure feedback regarding exactly how, where, and when your organisations would like support and representation from us.
The findings from the consultation informed ukactive’s strategic plan for 2022/23 and helped to create ‘Vision 2030’ – our ambitious but realistic aim to help at least five million more people to be physically active regularly using our members’ facilities and activities, continuing our relentless pursuit to help get more people more active, more often. Based on your consultation feedback, we defined the three key purposes of our work:
- Support, protect and inform our members
- Champion and represent our members
- Support the development and growth of our members.
Another of the big successes from the consultation was the improvement to our governance structure – implementing sub-councils to ensure that each and every member has a voice and is represented, regardless of the sector areas in which they operate.
Fast-forward 12 months and my ask today is for members to again feedback – but this time on how well we are executing our Vision 2030 plan, and how well we are supporting you as we strive towards that shared ambition for growth.
As a membership-led body, is it incredibly important that we hear from you and ensure our members help shape the direction of our organisation and our movement. Quite simply, the more members (and various teams from within our member organisations) we hear from, the more robust the evidence will be to give us an accurate indication of our progress.
Like last year, your feedback will be vital in helping to shape our business plans and member engagement strategy for the coming financial year, as well as identifying areas of strength and improvements for each of the following sector areas we represent:
- Public operators
- Private operators
- Independent operators
- Suppliers
- Wider activity providers.
I’m incredibly excited about the future potential of these sector areas and your feedback will go a long way to helping us ensure we are developing our support and communication to best serve you during the next 12 months, building on the foundations laid in 2022.
The 2022/2023 member survey is anonymous to encourage members to share feedback openly and confidently. However, if you would like a meeting to discuss your feedback then please do include your name and contact details so that we can follow up with you.
Thank you in advance for taking the time to contribute and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank members for being so welcoming and supportive during my first year at ukactive. The hospitality and warmth received when at events or visiting facilities has been greatly appreciated and I look forward to getting out and visiting more members over the coming year.
The ukactive Member Survey 2022/23 is open to all ukactive members and SPG members, and should take no more than eight minutes to complete. Please click on the relevant link below to begin:
ukactive Member Survey 2022/23 – Members
ukactive Member Survey 2022/23 – SPG Members
More People More Active More Often
