A fitter life with less joint pain and more mobility – that’s set to be the future for many thousands more as wellbeing tech company Good Boost transforms leisure centres, pools and gyms into therapeutic places promoting healthy ageing.
It costs over £7bn to treat the UK’s 20 million people affected by the company’s key market – those with musculoskeletal conditions such as arthritis, back and chronic pain as well as problems both pre and post-surgery.
In a bid to stem the human misery and that growing bill, Good Boost’s NHS-certified technology harnesses artificial intelligence (AI) to create personalised exercise programmes and augmented reality games that customers access on bespoke, waterproof tablets.
Now forecasting a £5m plus turnover come 2026, the non-profit social enterprise, which launched five years ago, has been developed with £1.3m of social impact investment and is in the process of raising its first round of equity investment.
Its package, where costs are from £2 to £3 a session for customers, is one that’s proving a multi-win.
From the customer perspective, along with tackling someone’s existing issues so at the very least they take less medication, its solution can be preventative, enhancing strength and balance and reducing the risk of falls, hospital stays and moving into care.
Then for those sinking into isolation because of their poor health, getting out and meeting new friends and sympathetic others can be a welcome morale booster.
The business makes a powerful economic case too for its service both by helping to cut NHS health bills and by encouraging more people to use their local community spaces, so increasing footfall for amenities too.
Now 160 locations have Good Boost’s MSK Hubs with backing coming from government body UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and its Health Ageing Challenge designed to help businesses develop services and products that tackle inequalities and support people in later life.
With the NHS and leisure providers its main clients, Good Boost’s package is flexible and inclusive – the antithesis of the super-toned gym god culture, a factor that puts off many from even considering taking up exercise.
Co-founder and chief executive Ben Wilkins explains: “Our programme works for both groups and individual classes and we back this with training and support for venue staff too.
“Mixed health conditions, mixed needs and mixed confidence levels are all covered. Customers aren’t not tied into rigid subscriptions and can drop in and out, picking up where they left off as they please.”
A former osteopath, he deliberately chose the non-profit social enterprise model to align with the business’s mission and authentic message it sends. “It helps encourage and reassure customers and supporters, as well as allowing us to raise investment and scale,” he adds.
Sessions last from 20 to 40 minutes with the emphasis on variety not repetition, and the average customer age is 56 although the range is widening and can now span from those in their 30s to the over-80s.
New funding will go into expanding its 14-strong team and an aqua digital exercise innovation it’s developing – a paddle with embedded with sensors that monitors exercise delivering real-time feedback about strength levels.
As the social shift continues from exercise and fitness to health and wellbeing, “we are in that zeitgeist,” declares Wilkins.
“If we can enable people to get out and visit the shops again that’s success.”
Click here to visit the UKRI’s Healthy Ageing Challenge that helps businesses to develop and deliver services and products which support people as they age and tackle inequalities. The Challenge aims to address inequalities in ageing by supporting the creation of products and services that can scale to reach everyone who needs them.
For more information, visit: https://www.
