Aviva Partners with Joe Wicks and Strava to Encourage Nationwide Wellbeing Revolution

Aviva Partners with Joe Wicks and Strava to Encourage Nationwide Wellbeing Revolution

(IN BRIEF) Aviva collaborates with fitness icon Joe Wicks and Strava to launch the #MoveWithAviva challenge, aiming to inspire individuals across the nation to prioritize their health and wellness. In response to findings revealing common barriers to exercise, such as fatigue and lack of motivation, the initiative encourages participants to dedicate just 10 minutes a day to physical activity throughout April. With Joe Wicks offering guidance and support, participants can choose any activity that suits their fitness level, from walking to mindfulness, and track their progress via the Strava app. Dr. Suba M emphasizes the significant impact even brief daily exercise can have on overall wellbeing, including stress reduction, improved mood, and enhanced physical health. The challenge culminates in prizes for participants who complete 300 minutes of activity, underscoring Aviva’s commitment to promoting long-term health and vitality among individuals of all ages.

(PRESS RELEASE) LONDON, 3-Apr-2024 — /EuropaWire/ — Aviva’s health insurance business1 is joining forces with Body Coach Joe Wicks and Strava to launch a new challenge designed to help encourage the nation to take steps to improve their health and wellbeing.

Aviva’s recent research found that around seven in ten (69%) people said they try to look after their health by exercising but know there’s more they can do.2

When asked what’s preventing them from exercising, a third of people (33%), put it down to being too tired and a similar number (30%) said that other priorities mean there’s not enough time to fit exercise in. Around two in five (41%) said that they lack motivation to exercise and just over one in seven people (15%) didn’t know where to start.

Aviva’s new initiative is designed to encourage everybody to kick-start new healthy habits by taking just 10 minutes a day to focus on their wellbeing. Joe Wicks is on hand to offer tips and support along the way.  Progress can be tracked and shared with others via Strava – the digital community for active people. Joe will also be sharing his own progress via the app and on Instagram and offering fresh ideas and words of wisdom to help provide that much-needed motivation.

The #MoveWithAviva initiative reflects that everyone has different levels of fitness and a variety of health and wellbeing needs. People can choose what activity they do and when they do it. To complete the programme people simply need to log 300 minutes of physical activity during April. This could include anything from walking, gardening, jogging, swimming or taking a moment of mindfulness to aid their mental health.

Dr Suba M, medical director at Aviva Health UK says: “As a nation many of us are living longer but not always living healthier. We’re seeing an increase in conditions such as heart disease, diabetes, cancer, musculoskeletal problems and mental health concerns.

“In today’s busy world, we often forget to take time to look after our health. There are often other priorities, or we feel too tired and lack motivation. The good news is that adopting healthier behaviours today could help improve our future wellbeing.

“Exercise can take many forms. It’s not just things like cycling, swimming and running. Anything that involves movement such as gardening, cleaning, stretching, or going for a gentle walk can count too.

“Just 10-minutes’ exercise a day could make a difference to an individual’s health. It can boost ‘feel good’ hormones such as dopamine, serotonin, oxytocin and endorphins helping to lower our stress levels, improve our mood, regulate appetite, improve digestion and aid memory. It can have a positive impact on our heart health, reduce our risk of obesity, muscle aches and back pain and help improve our sleep quality, which is so important for our mental and physical wellbeing.”

Talking about the challenge, Joe continues:

“Making small changes can make a big difference to our overall wellbeing, just ten minutes of activity a day could help transform our mindset and really help us form long-term healthy habits. Taking steps to stay healthy now could have a positive impact on our long- term wellbeing and challenges like #MoveWithAviva can help us see how within reach it is, even if it might seem out of reach right now.

“We hold our future is in our own hands, most of us are focused on looking after our loved ones – but are we investing enough time in our own wellbeing? Possibly not. The aim is to set a little time aside for ourselves, to ensure we are here to protect and support for as many years as possible.”

The #MoveWithAviva wellbeing challenge runs during April and is free to join. People can find out more and sign up for the initiative by visiting aviva.co.uk/movewithaviva and joining the Strava Club to log their progress.

People who complete the 30-day #MoveWithAviva challenge, which runs from 1 April -30 April 2024, will be in with a chance of winning one of the following prizes – a wellbeing break (£5,000 Secret Escape gift card), 10 x £100 Amazon vouchers and twenty 12-month subscriptions to The Body Coach App. Winners will be chosen at random. Terms and conditions apply. People must be over 18 to take part.

The new initiative with Aviva follows on from several previous challenges Joe has put to the nation, including his ‘1,000 burpee challenge’ last November, his personal ‘24-hour fitness challenge’ for BBC Children in Need, and his 14-day HIIT Workout Plan – not forgetting the incredible work he did to keep UK children participating in PE classes during lockdown, offering free sessions online.

References

1 Aviva Health UK Limited

2 The research was conducted by Censuswide with 2010 UK Respondents (Nat Rep) between 18.03.2024 – 20.03.2024. Censuswide abide by and employ members of the Market Research Society which is based on the ESOMAR principles and are members of The British Polling Council.

Notes to editors:

• We are the UK’s leading diversified insurer and we operate in the UK, Ireland and Canada. We also have international investments in India and China.
• We help our 19.2 million (as at 31 December 2023) customers make the most out of life, plan for the future, and have the confidence that if things go wrong we’ll be there to put it right.
• We have been taking care of people for more than 325 years, in line with our purpose of being ‘with you today, for a better tomorrow’. In 2023, we paid £25.6 billion in claims and benefits to our customers.
• In 2021, we announced our ambition to become Net Zero by 2040, the first major insurance company in the world to do so. We are aiming to have Net Zero carbon emissions from Aviva’s operations and supply chain by 2030. While we are working towards our sustainability ambitions, we recognise that while we have control over Aviva’s operations and influence on our supply chain, when it comes to decarbonising the economy in which we operate and invest, Aviva is one part of a far larger global ecosystem. There are also limits to our ability to influence other organisations and governments. Nevertheless, we remain focused on the task and are committed to playing our part in the collective effort to enable the global transition. Find out more about our climate goals at www.aviva.com/climate-goals and our sustainability ambition and action at www.aviva.com/sustainability
• Aviva is a Living Wage, Living Pension and Living Hours employer and provides market-leading benefits for our people, including flexible working, paid carers leave and equal parental leave. Find out more at https://www.aviva.com/about-us/our-people/
• As at 31 December 2023, total Group assets under management at Aviva Group were £376 billion and our estimated Solvency II shareholder capital surplus was £8.8 billion. Our shares are listed on the London Stock Exchange and we are a member of the FTSE 100 index.
• For more details on what we do, our business and how we help our customers, visit www.aviva.com/about-us
• The Aviva newsroom at www.aviva.com/newsroom includes links to our spokespeople images, podcasts, research reports and our news release archive. Sign up to get the latest news from Aviva by email.
• You can follow us on:
  • X: www.x.com/avivaplc
  • LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/aviva-plc
  • Instagram: www.instagram.com/avivaplc
• For the latest corporate films from around our business, subscribe to our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/aviva

Media Contact:

Amber Scott
Protection and Health, Regulation
Phone: +44 (0) 7384 230 662
Email: amber.scott@aviva.com

SOURCE: AVIVA