Who should enter?

This category is open to any UK based club or centre that has been operating for at least 12 months by 31^st December 2023.

You need not have the biggest facility, or the widest offer; this award is suitable for all types of facilities in the sector with the focus on the degree to which they meet the needs of their customers, staff and the local community. Some example of clubs or centres are:

• – Small independents
• – Studios and boutiques
• – Low-cost budget gyms
• – Local authority/leisure trust operated centres
• – Clubs that are part of a nationwide chain. 

Entry is according to the region where your club is located.

Assessment Process:

Step 1: Written submission
Step 1a: Customer insight survey
Step 2: Mystery shops & digital reviews

What the assessors are looking for?

This award is about running a great business that your customers love going to and your staff love working at – irrespective of the size of the facility, range of services on offer, or the part of the market you serve.

Hints & Tips

• Please provide tangible evidence of success in statistics, anecdotes, and facts and figures where necessary and if applicable. Evidence should be concise and stand up to scrutiny.

• Judges will be looking to reward recent success and will therefore expect to see evidence relating to achievements between January 2023 and end of January 2024. While the programme/project/initiative does not necessarily need to be ‘new’ or ‘recent’, make sure the successes outlined within your submission fall within these dates.

Who should enter?

This category is open to any organisation providing a product or service in the fitness, wellbeing and physical activity sector to support organisations delivering frontline services. You have to be supplying your product or service to the sector for at least 12 months by 31^st December 2023.

There are a vast number of vital products and services provided to the sector.

Areas such as:

• – Fitness Equipment
• – Club Management
• – Technology Providers (business and fitness technology)
• – Learning & Development
• – Professional & Platform Business Services
• – Apparel
• – Inclusion & Disability

Assessment Process: 

Step 1: Written Submission
Step 2: Judges’ House

What the judges are looking for?

This award is about being a stand-out supplier, striving for excellence and determination to do the very best for your customers.  It isn’t about what you do – it’s how well you do it.

Hints & Tips

• Please provide tangible evidence of success in statistics, anecdotes, and facts and figures where necessary and if applicable. Evidence should be concise and stand up to scrutiny.

• Judges will be looking to reward recent success and will therefore expect to see evidence relating to achievements between January 2023 and end of January 2024. While the programme/project/initiative does not necessarily need to be ‘new’ or ‘recent’, make sure the successes outlined within your submission fall within these dates.

Who should enter?

This category is open to anyone or any organisation taking the lead in the re-imagining, re-energising or re-design process, delivery and activating compelling environments and/or spaces that serve to inspire more people, to be more active, more often. You need not have been operating for a 12-month period or even be permanent in nature – but we do need to see evidence of successful and trailblazing implementation/delivery.

This is about innovative and new approaches that push the boundaries.

We are looking for organisations and individuals such as: 

• – Architects
• – Designers
• – Builders
• – Owners 

Assessment Process: 

Step 1: Written Submission
Step 2: Judges’ House

What the judges are looking for?

This award is about being a stand-out, game-changing project – both the idea, its development and execution.

Hints & Tips

• Please provide tangible evidence of success in statistics, anecdotes, and facts and figures where necessary and if applicable. Evidence should be concise and stand up to scrutiny.

• Judges will be looking to reward recent success and will therefore expect to see evidence relating to achievements between January 2023 and end of January 2024. While the programme/project/initiative does not necessarily need to be ‘new’ or ‘recent’, make sure the successes outlined within your submission fall within these dates.

Who should enter?

This award has been designed to recognise any organisation (or individual) that has demonstrated commitment to the promotion of equality, diversity and inclusion. This could be a programme, project, initiative, individual or team that embodies the very best of equality, inclusion and diversity by focusing on engaging or supporting those who are underrepresented in the sector.

Nominations are open to entries that excel in their commitment to equality, diversity and inclusion, and are able to demonstrate how they welcome, celebrate and support their customers/colleagues, and/or promotes and sustains physical activity in children and young people.

Assessment Process: 

Step 1: Written Submission
Step 2: Judges’ House

What the judges are looking for?

– What different/impact have you had on your target group?
– How have you supported staff or customer and made adjustments, or pro-active efforts to engage and welcome them?
– Have you been innovative to progress the sector in this area?
– How do you keep participants engaged in a changing society?
– Has your programme, project or initiative evolved or adapted since launching?

Hints & Tips

• Please provide tangible evidence of success in statistics, anecdotes, and facts and figures where necessary and if applicable. Evidence should be concise and stand up to scrutiny.

• Judges will be looking to reward recent success and will therefore expect to see evidence relating to achievements between January 2023 and end of January 2024. While the programme/project/initiative does not necessarily need to be ‘new’ or ‘recent’, make sure the successes outlined within your submission fall within these dates.

Who should enter?

This category is open to any organisation leading/delivering a physical activity focused programme, product or initiative that is targeted at the wider community to encourage increased activity and participation, and has been operating for a minimum of 12 months by 31^st December 2023.

It doesn’t matter how big or small your effort may be, what we are looking for is tangible and measurable outcomes, and widespread backing from your beneficiaries or local stakeholders.

Assessment Process:

Step 1: Written Submission
Step 2: Judges’ House

What the judges are looking for?

This is about working to inspire the wider community to make physical activity a part of its DNA. Judges will be looking at the ways you engage with communities and how you’ve used their specific needs to shape your initiative and deliver significant results.

Hints & Tips

• Please provide tangible evidence of success in statistics, anecdotes, and facts and figures where necessary and if applicable. Evidence should be concise and stand up to scrutiny.

• Judges will be looking to reward recent success and will therefore expect to see evidence relating to achievements between January 2023 and end of January 2024. While the programme/project/initiative does not necessarily need to be ‘new’ or ‘recent’, make sure the successes outlined within your submission fall within these dates.

Who should enter?

This category is open to any organisation that has activated a current event, concept, campaign, or project, or has been running one in the last 12 months, within the remit of organisational innovation that has inspired and encouraged people to be more active in any setting. Whether that be in their home, in the gym or leisure centre, on the way to or at work, or outdoors.

Key areas of activation to be considered: ​

• Workplace Wellbeing Programme(s) ​
• Community Engagement/Wellbeing ​
• A specific and innovative concept, campaign/activity or event ​
• Sustainability

Assessment Process:

Step 1: Written Submission
Step 2: Judges’ House

What the judges are looking for?

The judges will be looking to see if your event, concept, campaign, activity, engagement or programme has been successfully implemented and how this organisational innovation has transformed and/or pioneered an activation away from the conventional approach to running your facility and/or project/campaign. Judges are looking to hear how this has inspired your target audience to get more people to be more active.​

Key areas they will be looking at are: ​

1. What reach your activation has had. Did it achieve what it set out to do?​
2. How you implemented your activation piece? Include stakeholder engagement and how you delivered your communications and engagement in the run up.​
3. What impact did your activation have and what measurements and evaluations did you undertake?​
4. Why do you believe it is innovation?​

Hints & Tips

• Innovation is multi-dimensional in its approach, are you improving or replacing something? For example, it could be a process, a product, or a service and the judges are looking for how each of these approaches deliver ‘organisational innovation’. As you prepare your submission for the Organisation Innovation Award, remember that the judges are seeking clarity and depth against criteria, so your written submission should clearly demonstrate why you are putting your campaign, concept, event, activity, engagement, or programme forward for the Organisation Innovation Award. Alternatively, is your submission better suited to another category? If so, please ensure you amend your submission to reflect the category criteria.​

• Please provide tangible evidence of success in statistics, anecdotes, and facts and figures where necessary and if applicable. Evidence should be concise and stand up to scrutiny.

• Judges will be looking to reward recent success and will therefore expect to see evidence relating to achievements between January 2023 and end of January 2024. While the programme/project/initiative does not necessarily need to be ‘new’ or ‘recent’, make sure the successes outlined within your submission fall within these dates.

Who should enter?

This category is open to any organisation that has delivered an advertising or wider marketing campaign over the last 12 months which has been creative, innovative, impactful and helped raise the profile or change the perception of physical activity and its importance, whilst meeting the wider campaign objectives to your business.

Assessment Process:

Step 1: Written Submission
Step 2: Judges’ House

What the judges are looking for?

The judges will be looking to see if you have successfully delivered an innovative marketing campaign to highlight the role of physical activity which in turn has helped deliver your business objectives and what the campaign set out to highlight.

Key areas they will be looking at are:

1. That there is a key and clear link to physical activity and a specific outcome
2. What reach your marketing campaign had, its overall aim and the channels you chose to engage with your audience.
3. What impact the marketing campaign has had on your business and audience.
4. What you are doing to evolve your marketing campaign in the future

Hints & Tips

• Please provide tangible evidence of success in statistics, anecdotes, and facts and figures where necessary and if applicable. Evidence should be concise and stand up to scrutiny.

• Judges will be looking to reward recent success and will therefore expect to see evidence relating to achievements between January 2023 and end of January 2024. While the programme/project/initiative does not necessarily need to be ‘new’ or ‘recent’, make sure the successes outlined within your submission fall within these dates.

Who should enter?

This category is open to any organisation that has either completed, currently embarking on or at a stage of discovery in their digital transformation pathway. ​

This could be digital technologies and strategies that enable better business operations, increased performance, deeper insight, measurement of the impact of physical activity interventions and enhanced experiences, ultimately getting more people, more active, more often. Have you got a story to shout about which can inspire others. 

Assessment Process: 

Step 1: Written Submission
Step 2: Judges’ House

What the judges are looking for?

Judges in the Digital Transformation category are looking for applications from businesses who have successfully designed a digital strategy which supports overall commercial leisure strategy to create positive and long-lasting impact within their businesses. The judges are especially interested in hearing about stories of digital journeys that have led to fundamental changes in mindset, operation, and performance at all levels of a business and where possible, referencing the Digital Futures five measures of digital maturity and how this has led to increased consumer experiences and reach in participation, inclusion and accessibility through business improvements. ​

Application Design: ​

– Describe the journey of discovery, who was involved and how did you engage with internal depts and your audiences to design your requirement?​

– How did you engage with and what was the value/impact of involving digital platforms and transformation agents in the design of your requirement/strategy?​

– Has your programme, project or initiative evolved or adapted since originally launching? If so, what were the reasons for doing so?​

– How are you using the insights to develop your leisure and digital strategy?

Hints & Tips

• Please provide tangible evidence of success in statistics, anecdotes, and facts and figures where necessary and if applicable. Evidence should be concise and stand up to scrutiny.

• Judges will be looking to reward recent success and will therefore expect to see evidence relating to achievements between January 2023 and end of January 2024. While the programme/project/initiative does not necessarily need to be ‘new’ or ‘recent’, make sure the successes outlined within your submission fall within these dates.

Who should enter?

This award aims to shine a light on an organisation/programme that provides excellent delivery, demonstrates the development of innovative resources and assessments enabling learners to employees to display high quality skills. The award looks to recognise and reflect all-encompassing training and resources.

Entrants into this award can include individual bespoke initiatives that have seen success by the clients/customer. This could also include apprenticeships and on-programme delivery.

Assessment Process: 

Step 1: Written Submission
Step 2: Judges’ House

What the judges are looking for?

Entrants would need to demonstrate that learners or employees have succeeded in obtaining high quality skills that are valued by employers or users of their training. This could be testimonials/feedback provided by their customers/clients to identify they have offered and provided an improved service.

Hints & Tips

• Please provide tangible evidence of success in statistics, anecdotes, and facts and figures where necessary and if applicable. Evidence should be concise and stand up to scrutiny.

• Judges will be looking to reward recent success and will therefore expect to see evidence relating to achievements between January 2023 and end of January 2024. While the programme/project/initiative does not necessarily need to be ‘new’ or ‘recent’, make sure the successes outlined within your submission fall within these dates.

Who should enter?

This category is open to any individual with a story to tell that has impacted and inspired those who they engage with by proving that physical activity can have a transformational impact on health, happiness and wellbeing. We want to hear about the individuals that have used physical activity as an essential part of their life, to go that extra mile for their customers, colleagues, family, friends and communities.

We are looking for stories about: 

• – Volunteers
• – Instructors
• – Trainers
• – Colleagues
• – Friends

Assessment Process: 

Step 1: Written Submission
Step 2: Public Vote via ukactive Awards website

What the judges are looking for?

Our judges want to hear about inspirational, go-getting individuals who change lives – their goals, motivations, challenges and successes. They want to see an extensive track record of showing the impact that they have achieved and who are the very embodiment of the ukactive mission.