Tech start up Checkfit returns to roots and joins push for wellbeing in Knowsley
Fast-growing Merseyside tech start-up and online fitness and wellness directory Checkfit is forging new links to promote healthy living across the region.
Checkfit is the brainchild of entrepreneurs Stephen Edgerton and Michael Holden and offers details and reviews on more than 2,000 gyms, sports clubs, fitness classes and personal trainers across Merseyside.
It utilises blogs, images, reviews, facilities, amenities and brief, detailed descriptions and has been likened to a ‘Trip Advisor for gyms’.
Checkfit is teaming up with Knowsley Council, more specifically its not-for-profit fitness services provider Volair, to improve the health and wellbeing of residents in the borough.
Concerned with rising levels of obesity and lack of activity, the leisure provider is keen to utilise Checkfit’s services to help residents start making healthier choices.
Obesity issues are estimated to cost the NHS around £6.3bn per year, with wider costs to society estimated to be £27bn per year.
A survey jointly undertaken by Knowsley Council, the Clinical Commissioning Group and Knowsley Health and Wellbeing Board found that the proportion of Knowsley residents categorised as being obese was 22% in 2012/13, marginally higher than across the whole of Merseyside (21%).
More than a third of Knowsley adults (37%) were classed as obese or overweight and only four in 10 (39%) of Knowsley adults are deemed to have a healthy weight, slightly lower than across Merseyside (41%).
Knowsley females are marginally more likely to be obese than males, 23% compared with 21%, respectively.
Knowsley Council and Volair are directly involved in rolling out a national initiative, Healthy Lives, Healthy People: A Call to Action on Obesity, which is aimed at maintaining the downward trend in the level of excess weight in children by 2020, and to ndrive down the trend in the level of excess weight averaged across all adults by 2020.
This involves a deal between Volair and Checkfit whereby schools in the borough will direct pupils and parents to the website when the need for an exercise programme is appropriate.
Similarly, GPs whose patients need to increase their levels of physical activity will also be recommended to check out Checkfit.
And the company will also use the website to promote greater use of sports facilities, provided by Volair, as well as promoting green spaces across the borough.
Stephen Edgerton said: “This is a great partnership for us. We are all from the area and passionate about promoting the benefits of exercise and generally being more active to people across Merseyside.
“After meeting with Volair we could see how much they bought into our ethos and realised that Checkfit would be a great fit for them and the borough’s residents.
“We are adding more and more clubs, classes and trainers all the time to the site and you will not find a more comprehensive guide anywhere else.”
In the spirit of promoting more active lifestyles, Knowsley Council are also hosting a free family activity day tomorrow Thursday, April 5, at Knowsley Leisure and Culture Park from 9.30am until 1pm.
