Q&A with Helen Charlton, Marketing Manager, Fresh Air Fitness
28th February 2023
A. Well, I’m the Marketing Manager at Fresh Air Fitness. I’ve been here for seven years. I joined the company because I was so impressed by the mission and vision to get the whole of Britain fitter. What’s great about an outdoor gym, is that it offers all ages the chance to enjoy fitness, no matter their gender or level of ability.
Everyone has fun on our outdoor gym equipment and we have both adult and children’s ranges. Fitness should be about having fun, enjoying exercising, feeling good about yourself and your body and improving your quality of life at the same time!
A. In 2015, Sport England introduced their This Girl Can campaign. This Girl Can challenges the conventional idea of what exercise looks like and ‘aims to inspire more women and girls to wiggle, jiggle, move and prove that judgement, time, money and energy are barriers that can be overcome’. This campaign set out to bridge the gap between how much women exercise in comparison to men.
Women In Sport also published a report in 2017 about girls and exercise. The research found that whilst 78% of 14-16 year old girls understood the importance of physical activity - only 28% enjoyed taking part.
At Fresh Air Fitness our whole range is designed to be inclusive, open to anyone of any ability and ultimately loads of fun to jump on and use.
It’s a real leveller in that sense and we think it’s why we have sold over 1500 outdoor gyms into schools and colleges since 2007.
A. As well as the physical benefits, exercise increases confidence and improved self-image. It also reduces stress and mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression.
Our recent Fresh Air Fitness Primary School Children Survey told us that 90% of children said ‘exercising makes them feel happy’.
A. Sport is so much more than just living healthy lifestyles. Sport teaches girls about teamwork, goal-setting, the pursuit of excellence in performance and other ‘achievement-oriented’ behaviours— all absolutely critical skills necessary for success in the adult life and the workplace.
A. Girls can learn all sorts of key life skills from sport and fitness, including a ‘no fear’ attitude to challenges, an acceptance of making mistakes when you try new things and an ‘I will’ equals ‘I can’ attitude.
Sports and fitness nearly always also have a hierarchy – such as a coach – which prepares girls for the familiarity of a system of hierarchy at work - plus it encourages key personal qualities such as inner strength and determination which build resilience needed through the ups and downs of adult life.
A. Outdoor gyms have so many benefits. You can choose from different pieces which target different muscles groups or types of fitness from cardio or strength to balance and flexibility. Secondary Schools tell us that our award winning 16-user Big Rig is so popular with their students that they are staying behind after school to use it for a workout or training session. Our outdoor gyms that go into parks and green spaces are completely free for the general public to use, so we see bootcamps using them, sports teams warming up on them and all ages from the local community enjoying them.
The one huge advantage of an outdoor gym is also the pleasure of exercising outdoors. You can’t beat fresh air and fitness!
If you are a local school or council and would like to find out more about how an outdoor gym could benefit your local park, school, or green space, you can complete our brief enquiry form or call us on tel. 01483 608 860.
Our friendly and professional team is here to help answer any questions you may have – including questions on Funding.
If you would like to find the nearest outdoor gym to you, use our free outdoor gym locator tool.
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