Question: what do leisure centres have in common with the UK’s largest health research programme? 

Answer: we both aim to help people live longer and healthier lives. That’s why, in 2024, we partnered with Everyone Active, one of the UK’s leading operators of gyms, leisure centres and swim facilities.  

As part of the partnership, last month we ran a mobile clinic at two Everyone Active sites – first at Haslemere Leisure Centre in Hampshire, then at Whitwick & Coalville Leisure Centre in Leicestershire.  

The idea was to provide Everyone Active’s community of health-conscious members with an easy way to sign up to Our Future Health. After visiting their local leisure centres, the members could pop into our clinic in the car park outside. 

Across both sites, we saw a fantastic response from the local community. Over 26 days we delivered a whopping 1,500 appointments with an overall attendance rate of 88%. 

We caught up with some of our new volunteers to hear about their reasons for taking part in Our Future Health.

‘My appointment took just 15 minutes’

20-year-old Igor attended his Our Future Health appointment during our mobile clinic’s stint at Haslemere Leisure Centre. 

“Honestly, I couldn’t see any reason not to join Our Future Health when I heard about it, so I signed up and came down for my appointment today,” said Igor. “When the opportunity came along, it felt natural to join the 2.5 million other people who have already volunteered. 

“My appointment took just 15 minutes and involved a small blood donation. If you are able to do so, there’s really nothing too time consuming or daunting about taking part.  

“I hope that in 20 years’ time, doing this today ends up helping in some way. Whether the impact is small or large, as long as it’s done something positive, I’ll be happy.”

‘I joined to support medical progress’

Volunteer Elizabeth also attended her appointment at Haslemere Leisure Centre. She talked about her professional experience of recruiting for clinical trials, which motivated her to join our programme. 

“Many years ago, I worked in the pharmaceutical industry, so I know how difficult it can be to get projects off the ground and recruit enough people for meaningful health research,” said Elizabeth. “Because of that, I’m always happy to put myself forward for things like Our Future Health. 

“My mother had Alzheimer’s disease, so I want to help keep medical progress moving forward for that and other dementias. 

“I often think about cancer, and how much better understood it is today than it was 20 years ago because of health research. Whatever my data shows researchers, if it can contribute to our understanding of disease, then I’m happy to share it.  

“I’ve already implored my husband to sign up this morning. I will absolutely continue to spread the word about Our Future Health!”

Preventing disease together

Jacqui Tillman is Everyone Active’s Aquatics and Wellbeing Director & Chief Executive of SLM Community Leisure Charitable Trust.  

“We’re really proud to continue our partnership with Our Future Health, as it raises valuable awareness of the prevention, detection and treatment of multiple health conditions and diseases,” she said. 

“Our leisure centres sit at the heart of local communities, and Haslemere Leisure Centre is just one fantastic example of this. Throughout it’s time here, it was wonderful to see the Our Future Health clinic welcoming so many volunteers and to witness the enthusiasm of those signing up.” 

CEO and CMO at Our Future Health, Dr Raghib Ali also expressed how pleased he was to have had this opportunity to raise awareness of our programme among the Everyone Active community. 

“Our mobile clinics are a really convenient way for people to weave taking part into their daily routine,” he said. “It’s been immensely heartening to see the response to our programme here and emphasises how, by coming together, we can develop new ways to prevent, detect and treat diseases.”