Thank you for staying #activetogether
We can tell you that nobody is more thrilled than our partners to see that fitness studios and other sports facilities are able to open again! After more than two months of lockdown now everyone can train outside in the fresh air or go back to training and sweating together inside the studio by following strict hygiene rules. Many of us are more than happy that we can get back to our normal fitness routines (with some restrictions of course)!
During the pandemic, many people, including our partners, found themselves in a difficult situation. But the show of strength and solidarity from our community played a big part in helping us through these times – and continues to do so!
With the #activetogether movement we were able to give our partners a financial helping hand. Within only a few days of lockdown partners were able to host live online courses with the help of our technical platform.
All this gave our partners a way of providing an online sports offer by streaming via an online platform. This meant they were able to keep generating income while maintaining contact with their existing members and establishing connections with new members from other European cities.
Not only that but 80% of the membership fees we collected in that time plus the payouts from the live online classes went straight to our partners. At the end of each month we remunerated our partners per online check in they had from our members.
This means an astonishing sum of 1,4 million euros from our solidarity fund was paid out to our partners who had already been working with us before 2020.
Further information about the solidarity fund can be found here.
Please check out our #activetogether page where our partners thank you for your support via video message!
And from Urban Sports Club: A big THANK YOU
We could not have done it without you. Both in the last few months and today we are so happy to see such loyalty and support coming from our partners and members community. By keeping their memberships active our members have shown us an unbelievable level of support and faith which has made a huge impact. So we just want to say a huge THANK YOU!
And a big thank you also comes from our partners! They were overwhelmed by the solidarity and sympathy they received in this difficult situation.
After taking time to talk to our partners it became very clear to us how essential it is for the sports industry to work together and join forces to get through this crisis together.
Olaf Zorn Co-Founder and Head Coach from Black Sheep Athletics Berlin says: “Both during and after the crisis we have a very loyal base of members who were attending the live online courses on a daily basis. We received a lot of positive feedback around both the technical implementation of the classes and , of course, for our training content.”
“Seeing such a strong spirit of working together during the lock down coming from the vast majority of our members was truly overwhelming. Almost all of our members wanted us to get back to normal as soon as we could, so much so that they continued to pay their membership fees even during the lockdown.”
Those who cancelled their memberships were sorry to have to do so. For them, it was more about not being unable to support us rather than not wanting to. So much positive energy and solidarity really gave us goosebumps.
Luckily we did not have to completely close our business down as we were able to set up online courses in an easy and speedy way so we could keep offering ways to train with us.
How strong is this spirit of working together now that some normality has returned to our sports routine?
“Since being able to reopen and train in normal group sizes, it feels as if nothing had ever happened (except for the hygiene rules, of course)!
The feeling of collaboration and working together within the community is currently really demonstrated by the fact that if somebody does not follow our new set of hygiene regulations it is the group that steps in before we have to speak to them ourselves. For example, anyone who trains without a mask will find themselves excluded from the group even before we have to intervene!
Here in the trainer team we are definitely not racists, sexists, homophobes nor assholes – and this is exactly what we expect from our “black sheep.” This makes us a strong unit of fair players!
Even more partners say thank you
Kurt from FitnessCenter aTB in Berlin also says thank you:
“For me, the most beautiful and emotional part of the whole lockdown phase was that members visited us in the studio – and that was just for coffee, because they missed us. That was overwhelming! And also the willingness to continue paying their membership fees even though they couldn’t train was exorbitantly high with us! Thanks a lot for that!”
Susanne of Yoga13 from Stuttgart reflects on the lockdown:
“Yoga13 is an absolute heart project. We were so well attended before we suddenly had to close that it was a real shock for us. At the beginning of the lockdown we fell into a kind of rigidity about how things should continue now. In the beginning we offered our yoga courses for free, just to be there. So it felt amazing that the yoga community supported us when we smoothly and easily switched our offer to live online classes! We received so much positive feedback and love from the heart that I was motivated to continue!”
Dana from SalzAmbiente in Munich raves about the solidarity fund:
“At the beginning of the crisis, it was not possible for us as wellness partners to adapt our offer to a live online format. That’s why I never expected to receive any financial support at all. I was totally surprised, but all the happier because I received money from the Solidarity Fund completely unexpectedly!”
Chris from Yoga39° from Cologne reflects on their reopening:
“My first impression – after we held our first course again – was to look into sweaty but overjoyed faces. Many members had completely forgotten about the lockdown, how much they missed our classes and what a great feeling it is to be able to train on site again. Everybody has to decide for themselves if they feel ready for it, but you should just remember how great you feel after the yoga classes and how good it feels to have it again!”
Together we’re stronger!
Let’s continue to be #activetogether. This way you won’t just keep yourself fit, but will motivate and inspire others to become active again. If you’d like to train again in your favourite locations, then register today on our website or app and resume your sports routine.
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