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January is a difficult month for many of us. It’s dark, cold, wet and the glow of the festive season feels a long time ago.

But it’s also a moment when millions of people make a conscious decision to reset – to move more and invest in their health.

That’s why January matters so much for gyms, swimming pools and leisure centres. It’s consistently their busiest month of the year and not just because of New Year’s resolutions.

But beyond the first month of the year, there is a growing understanding that physical activity is preventative medicine and that a healthy population drives a healthy economy.

The places we move are of critical importance.

Earlier this week, alongside ukactive, I visited three very different facilities in one day – across both the public and private sector.

What struck me was how similar the stories were.

Operators talked about strong footfall, rising memberships and people coming through the doors for more than just exercise.

They’re coming for health, of course – but also for confidence, connection, and support.

This feels vitally important in a time that is characterised by increasing isolation, screens and polarised views.

Spaces open to everybody

Another feature which stood out was the remarkable diversity of the people there – from teenagers arriving in their uniforms after school, to the group of retirees who had originally been referred by the next door hospital and now were coming four days a week (and spending as much time over lunch as in the class).

It was also fantastic to see the level of innovation and use of technology to bring health and leisure closer together – with sophisticated health checks, devising personalised programmes for each individual, linking to 'e-gyms' and other virtual support.

This is the preventative health agenda in action. It’s getting active from the ground up and it sits at the heart of our ambition at Sport England, working with our partners to help millions more people become active.

January brings this ambition to life, but the real story is what’s happening year-round.

The scale and growth of the gym and leisure sector are significant.

The UK Health & Fitness Market Report 2025 shows a record 11.5 million people are now members of a health or fitness club – up 6.1% on the previous year – with 616 million facility visits recorded, an increase of 8.2%.

These are not short-term spikes. Participation has been growing over consecutive years, supported by a unique infrastructure of public, private, large, medium and independent operators working across the country.
 

Sport England’s Active Lives Adults survey 2023-24 reinforces this picture.

Fitness activities and swimming continue to be major drivers of physical activity behind walking, with 904,000 more adults taking part compared to the previous year.

Demand is being driven by what people value most.

Polling from ukactive shows that 77% of members join a gym or leisure facility primarily to improve their mental health and wellbeing.

People also cite better sleep, increased confidence, managing health conditions and making new friends. This is about quality of life, not just physical fitness.

We’re also seeing important shifts in who is taking part. Female participation continues to grow, particularly through group exercise and classes.

Projects like Safer Spaces to Move, delivered with This Girl Can, are helping to remove barriers and make facilities more welcoming and safer for women.

Key community assets

Our latest Moving Communities report shows participation in public leisure has increased for every age group over 45, while gym activity is rising among under-16s, over-65s and people living in the most deprived communities.

Since 2017, the number of children and young people taking part in gym and fitness activity has increased by more than 12%.

Standards matter too. Facilities are improving every year, driven by initiatives such as The Active Standard, Quest and FitCert, ensuring that quality, safety and inclusion keep pace with growing demand.

All of this sits squarely within the Government’s priorities for economic growth and improving the NHS through the 10-year plan.

Health drives wealth and the social value created by being active is immense.

The sector contributes £122.9 billion in social value each year, including £15.9 billion in healthcare savings and £106.9 billion in wellbeing value – the equivalent of £2,600 per active adult – and more than double that for people with long-term health conditions or disabilities.

We gain £6 billion in productivity, thanks to a healthier workforce that takes fewer sick days.

The sector creates £5.7 billion in revenue and supports hundreds of thousands of jobs, many for young people at the start of their working lives.

These are extraordinary numbers.

January is important. But the real opportunity lies beyond it.

Gyms and leisure centres are not just places we go at the start of the year; they – and the people that work in them – are essential community assets, powering healthier lives, stronger communities and a more resilient economy all year round.
 

For more than 10 years, I’ve had the privilege of being part of a partnership between Sport England and the National Trust that’s been quietly but powerfully changing lives.

This is more than just getting people outdoors – it’s about creating real, lasting opportunities for everyone, especially those who need it most, to connect with nature and feel the benefits of being active in green and blue spaces.

Being outdoors and connected to nature has demonstrable health and wellbeing benefits.

Studies have shown impact such as lowering stress levels and reducing cortisol and inflammation, which are increasingly seen as factors in depression, autoimmune diseases and cancer.

Our work at the National Trust is shifting towards a more ‘place-based’ approach, but what exactly do we mean by that?

Rather than parachuting in with one-size-fits-all solutions, we’re considering what’s already happening in local communities, at National Trust properties and on their land, and finding ways to make those spaces more accessible, more welcoming and more connected to the people who live nearby.
 

Whilst we consider how to be more locally responsive, we continue to work at a national scale on initiatives such as improving navigational and orientation signage to ensure paths are easy to find and follow, and refining path-grading methodologies to better reflect the diversity of users.

This work focuses on describing the path itself rather than the person using it and it goes in line with the Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) principles and the Equality Act.

What I love about our work is that it’s about making meaningful connections between the land and the community.

It’s not just about trails or facilities – it’s about creating safe, natural, traffic-free environments where people can walk, cycle, run, paddle or simply be.

I’ve seen firsthand how many barriers can stand in the way of people accessing the outdoors.

Things like fear of getting lost, finding themselves in unfamiliar terrain, safety concerns, challenges around travelling to our places or just not knowing where to start.

We’ve worked hard to design experiences that support people who are new to the outdoors and it’s making a real difference.

For that we’ve been able to capitalise on the strength of the National Trust brand.

Our properties are trusted spaces, with essential facilities like cafés and toilets, which makes them perfect for families, groups or individuals who might be taking their first steps into nature.

The multi-use trails that have been developed are a great example. They’re accessible, enjoyable and range from three to 5km, which makes them ideal for walking, wheeling, running or cycling.

And the impact has been incredible!

We’ve seen a 23% rise in visits from people of ethnic backgrounds, which indicates we’re reaching new audiences and helping more people feel like they belong in these spaces.

This is fantastic news since we strive to improve the experience for communities that often find barriers to exploring the great outdoors.

I’ve also been inspired by the way this work helps those who may need deeper support.

Whether it’s supported paddling sessions, inclusive activities for families with SEN, or community-led cycling groups like the Muslim Cycle Sisters at Osterley, there’s a real commitment to inclusion.

And it’s not just about participation but about representation, too.

The Trust is working with partners to tackle underrepresentation in the outdoor workforce, for example through our walking leaders programme, which is such an important step toward long-term change.

Nature restoration and biodiversity play a big part in our work.

Our infrastructure developments are designed to improve visitor experience and get people active whilst protecting some of the most sensitive nature areas.

We are strengthening our knowledge and skills in designing experiences that deliver real, meaningful and lasting nature connection to inspire more people to care for nature and their local environment.

Looking ahead

As I reflect on the past decade, I feel proud of what we’ve achieved and even more hopeful about what’s to come.

Our partnership with Sport England shows that when we focus on people, place and purpose, we can create spaces that are not only beautiful, but truly inclusive and life-enhancing.

And that’s something worth building on.

After a suicide bomber attacked concert goers at the Manchester Arena in 2017, it was plain that a change was needed in how we protected people visiting public spaces.

In particular, there was widespread agreement that security and safety wasn’t just a matter for the police and emergency services; event organisers and the venues they used had to have a larger role in prevention and planning.

That realisation led to the campaign for Martyn’s Law, which is currently going through Parliament.

Officially known as the Terrorism (Protection of Premises) Bill, it will place a duty on premises and events to have security procedures in place to reduce the risk of harm if there’s an attack.

Some larger events and premises would need documented measures to reduce their vulnerability but it may well be some time before it fully comes into force as organisations and premises will need time to prepare.

As explained on ProtectUK – the dedicated website of the Home Office on counter-terrorism security information, training and materials – it will only directly apply to larger events and premises.

Yet we know that the people who want to do harm are just as capable of targeting small venues and small organisations.

Attacks on high-profile events or locations are getting harder to pull off, so how can we ensure people are protected everywhere they play, compete or train?

Luckily, we’re a society where voluntary associations have always taken responsibility to look after their people.

UK sports clubs and teams are exemplars of good practice in introducing safety and safeguarding protocols, and doing it with only the goodwill of volunteers to draw on.
 

At the National Counter Terrorism Security Office we have been developing simple and easy-to-follow tools that are intended to demystify the steps needed to make people safer.

As well as working with some of the country’s biggest sporting organisations with large security set-ups, we’re conscious that security and terrorism are often the last thing on the mind of a club secretary who has to organise coaches, book referees, sweet talk parents into overseeing the car park or finding someone to collect the weekly subs.

Few people probably want to worry about having a plan to stop an intruder with a knife or think through how to manage multiple casualties caused by a rogue vehicle, but they want to know that someone has thought about the risks and that there are procedures in place.

Those procedures may be as simple as making sure you know who is coming into the building, organising the car park to limit the risk of an attacker getting up speed in a vehicle or having a protocol for getting people to safety inside a clubhouse, the changing rooms or the equipment store.

Or they might just involve regular volunteers by asking them to do a short free online security-awareness course.

Working with security experts across Government, industry and a number of national bodies, we’ve built a number of free tools on the ProtectUK website that clubs and teams are welcome to use.

You’ll find advice and resources covering subjects including identifying risks, event safety and eLearning for staff and awareness posters.

And if you can’t find what you need on our website – please, tell us. If it means that people can go about their sport in safety, we’re listening.