Bike4Life

Harpers Fitness hosted the year’s biggest government announcements about sport and physical activity at one of their flagship centres – Willesden Sports Centre in August. The great and the good from Parliament, the leisure and sport industry and other VIPs all attended a briefing by Andy Burnham MP, the Secretary of State for Health set out the government’s vision for a fitter England.

In his speech, the Health Secretary called on the NHS to make the promotion of active lifestyles “core business and not a peripheral concern”. Health professionals should see improving activity rates and getting their patients moving as central to their work. He also gave an update on up and coming plans for Change4Life – the lifestyle revolution that is helping families to eat well, move more and live longer.

In line with Bike4Life, Sky, the entertainment and communications company, working with British Cycling, has organised a summer series of Skyride mass-participation cycling events across five major cities, plus hundreds of local led rides, to encourage all ages and abilities to get back on their bikes. A Dance Champions Group featuring stars of Strictly Come Dancing including Arlene Phillips, Lisa Snowdon, Darren Bennett and Come Dancing star Angela Rippon, will be running a national campaign to boost participation in dance in the run up to 2012.

Fresh efforts to build on Natural England’s Walking for Health campaign to make 200,000 more people active by 2012 through Walking for Health under the Walk4Life brand. The Walk4Life programme already provides a service for 30,000 people every week.

Victoria Branch, Harpers Fitness Marketing Manager said: “It was great to welcome Andy Burnham MP and the VIPS and media to Willesden Sports Centre. It’s great to see the government re-committing themselves to boosting sport and physical activity.

We are looking forward to working with the Department of Health and the FIA to ensure these initiatives can be delivered locally for the benefit of our communities and the millions of customers we welcome into our centres each year.”