EuropeActive News

EuropeActive, the leading voice and non-profit association for the European fitness and physical activity sector, is pleased to announce that preliminary data collected by King Juan Carlos University and AWRC-Sheffield Hallam University reveals extremely low levels of Covid-19 risk in fitness clubs and leisure facilities. With more than 62 million visits analysed, the average infection rate sits at 0.78 per 100.000 visits.

Last month, the 6^th European Week of Sport took place from the 23^rd- 30^th September with the goal of getting as many Europeans as possible to be active and adopt healthier lifestyles. The European Fitness sector has been instrumental in the success of the campaign by reaching over 30 million Europeans with the #BEACTIVE message and activating almost 1,5 million people through thousands of events across the continent.

EuropeActive is delighted to announce that its project application, Active Ageing Communities- AAC has been selected by the European Commission in the framework of the Erasmus+ Sport Programme. The project, which is in partnership with the National Fitness Associations of six EU Member States and the University of Southern Denmark will begin in January 2021 and run for 24 months.

Last week, EuropeActive sent a sectoral Declaration for Action to the presidents of the EU institutions inviting them to join us in the promotion of physical activity for social, mental and physical wellbeing. As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to grow, European policy and decision-makers must recognise that fitness centres and health clubs provide essential services, through boosting the immunity and resilience of European citizens. 

The sixth edition of the European Week of Sport, which took place from the 23-30 of September was a great success and adapted exceptionally well to the difficult circumstances as imposed by C-19 which resulted in the cancellation of many planned events throughout the continent. The official figures regarding participation in the EWoS will soon be published by the EU Commission on the European Week of Sport website.

EuropeActive, the leading voice and non-profit association for the European fitness and physical activity sector, together with research and evaluation partners AWRC-Sheffield Hallam University and King Juan Carlos University, has already started the data collection process for the SafeACTiVE Study, the first initiative focused on actual confirmed COVID-19 cases in fitness facilities and leisure centres across Europe when compared to the actual number of visits in the same facilities.

EuropeActive hosted its 7th annual European Health and Fitness Forum (EHFF) on Wednesday, 30th September 2020.  This year's event marked a shift away from the traditional format in order to adapt to COVID-19 restrictions, resulting in a completely virtual high-level live stream from Düsseldorf, Germany. Speakers and panellists who contributed to the event, joined both on-site and virtually, enabling EHFF to reach more people from across Europe and the world than ever before.

In June, EuropeActive commissioned a study to find out more about the short and longer term impacts to European fitness club operators as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. The report was researched and drafted by Deloitte with an objective to gather information from top operators in Europe based on a number of key business KPIs.

On Tuesday September 8^th, EuropeActive and its national fitness association partners came together for an on-line roundtable to discuss the latest developments and look at the months ahead.

Last week the EuropeActive team held virtual Partners meetings for three EU funded projects it is coordinating.