Sport and Physical Activity Update, February 2021

Although we may be in a third national lockdown, colleagues in Sport and Physical Activity (SPA) remain committed to maintaining the wellbeing of the University community and helping us to all stay active. The Get Out Get Active team added to their virtual activities with a monthly team step challenge, which is the largest virtual challenge to date with 150 staff participating. If you missed this one, keep an eye out for the March step challenge, join in the next virtual run relay or contact the team for more information.

This month the results of Sport and Physical Activity’s 2020 Balancing Life Survey were published. Findings will help the team work with facilities and individuals to create opportunities for colleagues to be more regularly active, with the survey this time focusing on the impact of Covid-19 on habits and attitudes towards physical activity.

Some headline results include:

57% of people said they were active, compared to 75% last year in 2019
47% have trouble sleeping compared to 29% in 2019
47% reported high levels of anxiety
82% said they considered physical activity more important as a result of lockdown
The top barrier to participation was/is not having the right equipment
50% believed that they would exercise more in the future once restrictions had eased with 42% saying they were looking forward to returning to the gym

The team would love to hear your thoughts and ideas, contact them via the webpage to help shape future plans and initiatives.

Raising awareness about volunteering and the importance of students participating was this year’s theme for Student Volunteering Week. Due to the pandemic, this year to the SPA team focused on publishing a series of blogs and interviews, as well as signposting students to volunteering resources and opportunities.

Over the last few months, the commitment and hard work of the Sports Performance Team has enabled all University elite athletes to receive full support with their training routines. The team have also provided a range of remote services for Sports Scholars to access.