Tees Active leading the way with innovative use of Mywellness Live & On-Demand

Tees Active is a not-for-profit community trust with deep community values. The team work hard to offer equal opportunity access to all members of the local area - so more people can benefit from leading a healthy and active life.

Gail McKenna, Health & Wellbeing Manager, explains why Tees Active invested in Technogym Mywellness Live and On-Demand streaming services to stay connected with members and the community.

“Whilst we are a mainstream health & fitness provider, our focus is firmly on social objectives” she said. “We work in partnership with a number of organisations including the NHS, Sport England, ukactive, and Public Health to make sure we connect with hard to reach groups as well as more active members of the community.”

“Technogym has been our equipment partner at Tees Active’s four sites for more than a decade, helping facilitate the transition from local authority provider to leisure trust, and supporting the growth of Tees Active facilities.”

Investing in streamed services to keep communities connected

“We have been using Mywellness for many years” said Gail. “It has been very popular with all ages and demographics and helps us be better connected with members and offer more content.”

“Over the course of the last 12 months we knew we needed to work even harder at keeping our members active so we spoke to Technogym about adding their Live and On-Demand solution to our offer.”

Content and connectivity on one platform

Tees Active wanted one solution for all their member activity. With the infrastructure of Mywellness already embedded into the customer journey, it was the obvious next step for this innovative leisure trust.

“Our membership is really diverse” said Gail, “ranging from general fitness to specialisms like cardiac rehabilitation, weight management and neurological needs. We needed one platform that gave every member whichever service they want from us, whenever and wherever they want it. Streaming is a valuable way of connecting with more vulnerable people.”

Mywellness Live & On-Demand will help Tees Active with a multi-stage approach to streamed services. They have been able to offer members the chance to engage with activity during lockdown and beyond, and have provided reliable content during the Government’s staggered approach to reopening leisure facilities. After lockdown, the streaming services will help Tees Active to add extra value to memberships, and even extend their reach beyond the local area.

“Our key aim in investing in Mywellness Live and On-Demand was maintaining that crucial connection between our customers and our facility” explained Gail. “We know that a good percentage of members are keen to come back, but this provides another high quality option to bridge the gap. It offers them the familiarity in our programming and coaching, and they already use through Mywellness, so the platform is recognisable.”

Reaching niche demographics

Tees Active have taken Technogym’s streaming service and made it their own, recognising the diversity of their membership base.

“The Mywellness Live and On-Demand platform offers a flexible way to use our own content and reach those specialist demographics with the right support” Gail said. “For example, we can continue to offer our weight management programme, which is supported by Stockton’s Public Health department, through the Mywellness app, so those important demographics stay engaged through this difficult time.”

Over 1000 members have already signed up to Tees Active’s Live and On-Demand offers. Of these 500 are regular fitness members who enjoy the opportunity to connect with their favourite class instructor and see a familiar studio setting in the background.

Becoming the benchmark for creating a streamed offer

Tees Active has worked hard to make its Live stream programme a replica of its in-person programme – and their success has led to them aiming to set the standard against which other operators benchmark their offers.

“We have worked really hard on proving quality content in a professional way” she explained. “It’s delivered by our own instructors, from our own studios, with music and atmosphere as well as high quality audio visual equipment for the very best production quality.”

Tees Active has also offered streamed content to Stockton Borough Council employees, to their own furloughed staff, and to special health populations during lockdown.

Using streamed services after lockdown

Streaming plays a significant role in future plans for Tees Active. By May, three of the four sites will have streaming audio visual equipment built in to the studios.

Tees Active will offer it as part of a premium membership option, through a fully-branded Mywellness app.

Technogym Live and On-Demand will also support Tees Active’s innovative on-demand health offer, rolling out content from specialist providers and partner organisations to hard to reach populations.

“Within our branded app we will have four leisure centres, and two streamed offers” explained Gail, “One mainstream group exercise and one for specialist health initiatives. We are one of the first trusts to do this and we look forward to sharing our knowledge with others who wish to achieve the same outcomes.”

Member feedback to Live and On-Demand has been overwhelmingly positive, with people commenting that it is keeping them active and connected during lockdown.

“We have always enjoyed a good partnership with Technogym” said Gail. “They understand our aims, and support us with good advice. They are always able to adapt their offers to match our unique goals and targets. We really appreciate their partnership on this new venture and look forward to seeing where it will take us in future.”

• Ensure recorded content is engaging and good quality
• Create a motivating atmosphere when filming
• Use it to engage your most hard to reach groups
• Engage and connect with members at the start and end of classes
• Be open and receptive to feedback and to all opportunities that streamed content offers