Active leisure time - what gym membership says about potential volunteering..

Active leisure time - what gym membership says about potential volunteering..

Firstly some stats from market research world:

1. Almost 4.5 million UK adults (15+) have a gym membership, an increase of almost a million since 2000.
2. A third of them are aged 15 to 24 and they are over 60% more likely than the average adult to be single. Since 2000, the number of gym members aged 65+ has increased almost 70%.
3. Only 27% of gym members regularly go to the gym.
4. Their average household income is 35% higher than that of the average adult.
5. They are 18% more likely than the average adult to be heavy consumers of chocolate bars.
6. However, over a third of gym members always think of the calories in what they eat.
7. They are over 50% less likely than the average adult to specially choose to watch Heartbeat.
8. Gym members are over twice as likely as the average adult to be in the highest quintile for cinema exposure.
9. They are over 50% more likely than the average adult to agree that when they need information, the first place they go is the internet and they are over 60% more likely than the average adult to access health-related websites.
10. Female gym members will spend on average 35% more on shoes and 29% more on handbags than the average woman.

So what can we learn from this growth about volunteering. We know we're moving from 'obligation-led' volunteernig to 'fun-led' volunteering (see @ncvo participation stats)

There are parallels between the civic core, and the education levels of gym goers.

Could we realistically see a massive increase in people who want to move "from viewing to doing" in their leisure time..?

Could we build something that meets their needs..?