Sport Imperial's goFit clinches European sports award

Imperial's goFIT and One Big Thing has been recognised as an example of best practice by the European Network of Academic Sport Services (ENAS).

The ENAS Award, presented to the College at the ENAS Annual Conference in France last week, recognised goFit and One Big Thing’s role in Imperial’s plan to encourage activity and exercise to improve the community’s wellbeing.

Neil Mosley accepting the ENAS Award

The challenge aimed to increase the wellbeing and physical activity of staff and students by encouraging them to increase the number of minutes spent on physical activity each week. This information was then recorded with the goFit fitness trackers, allowing users to track their efforts. It cumulated in the One Big Thing ‘5k anyway’ event in Hyde Park which saw staff and students take part in a 5k fun run.

Neil Mosley, Head of Sport Imperial said: “We are all very excited about winning the ENAS award.

“Programmes such as this all contribute to our wider plan to encourage more activity and exercise in order to improve student academic performance and all-round wellbeing at Imperial. We are very proud of what we’ve achieved so far."

Professor Debra Humphris, Vice-Provost (Education) said: “We’ve always stressed that exercise and physical activity is not only good for physical fitness but also for students’ wellbeing more generally, the benefits of can be seen in their academic performance.

“I’m looking forward to seeing more initiatives like this at the College and more students and staff reaping the benefits of a healthy and active lifestyle.”

The goFit fitness tracker was originally developed by the University of Southampton and, following a successful trial there last year, the initiative was adopted by Sport Imperial as part of the College’s wellbeing activities.

Professor m.c. schraefel, Professor of Computer Science and Human Performance at the University of Southampton, who designed goFit, said: “Our research is all about designing technology to help people connect with each other, and connect with better wellbeing practices. We’d be overjoyed to see every university in the UK and EU running a goFIT challenge - let’s make it happen.”