EMD UK strengthens its focus on health, GP referrals and long-term conditions 

Every day, group exercise instructors help people move more, build confidence and improve their physical and mental wellbeing. As emphasised in our Social Value Report, they’re also supporting people with preventing and managing long-term health conditions, keeping their independence and enjoying a better quality of life. 

Earlier this year, we explored this topic at the Why Sports Conference, discussing how group exercise can help scale the prevention of long-term health conditions within local communities and across the wider population in order to relieve some of the burden on NHS services and support the wider health sector.  

Alongside this discussion, many of our instructors are telling us that they want to understand how they can work alongside the NHS and other health organisations, navigate GP referral pathways, and become recognised as trusted professionals within local health systems in order to bring group exercise to the people who need it most. 

At EMD UK, we’ve been listening, and it’s encouraging to see the wider health system increasingly recognising the same opportunity.

What is our biggest opportunity? 

Across government, the NHS and Sport England, there is the recognition that physical activity has a vital role to play in preventing and managing long-term health conditions, especially in older adults. 

Sport England’s Uniting the Movement 10-year strategy names older adults as a priority group in the UK, recognising that activity levels among people aged 75+ have yet to recover following the pandemic and this opens them up to greater risk of long-term health conditions. 

At the same time, the recently updated Physical Activity Guidelines (July 2026), from the UK Chief Medical Officer, are placing renewed emphasis on strength and balance activities throughout life, highlighting the evidence that physical activity supports physical function, independent living, quality of life and the prevention and management of a wide range of long-term conditions. 

Finally, the NHS’s Fit for the Future: 10 Year Health Plan for England also ties into this with their emphasis on prevention and promoting healthier lifestyles. Physical activity is outlined in the plan as a key component of achieving a healthier population, due to the positive effects it has on long term health outcomes and relieving NHS pressures as a result. 

This all creates an exciting opportunity for our sector and it’s an opportunity that we’re committed to helping our members embrace. 

How are we going to meet this opportunity? 

At EMD UK, we’re expanding our work with a dedicated focus on health.  

This isn’t about changing who we are or moving away from the core role we have as the national governing body for group exercise.  

It’s about building on our strengths and making sure that our members have the knowledge, confidence and support to meet this opportunity of working more closely with the health sector. 

Following the creation of our Social Value Report in 2025, we were able to confirm that group exercise classes have 4.7 million weekly participants and over 10.6 million adults (around a quarter of the adult population of England) use group exercise as part of their blend of activities. 

The research provided robust evidence that group exercise can facilitate physical and mental health benefits just as well as other sport or physical activity (e.g. walking, cycling, etc), allowing us to position group exercise on an equal footing as walking, cycling and other activities that form part of social prescribing. Also, according to the feedback we received, group exercise can provide even greater benefits if it is socially prescribed, especially around mental wellbeing and social cohesion as the ‘group’ aspect of any session leads to greater adherence, fewer dropouts, and an increased sense of belonging.  

Our research already shows that group exercise is a valuable tool that the wider health sector should be taking advantage of, but there’s more we can do. In terms of taking the next step forwards and further supporting this approach, we’ll be: 

• Helping members better understand local health pathways 

• Strengthening connections with healthcare partners 

• Supporting opportunities around GP and exercise referral 

• Championing the role that skilled instructors already play in and supporting people living with long-term health conditions, preventing long-term health conditions, and helping more people age well using our specialist research and sector connections. 

What are EMD UK’s next steps?  

To support this focus and achieve our goals in this area, we are welcoming two new members to the EMD UK team. 

Firstly, we have Victoria Freschini, who will be stepping into the role of National Health & Physical Activity Integration Lead. Victoria comes from an NHS background in GP engagement and quality assurance, where she worked with complex data to advise and recommend improvements to services. 

She will work on behalf of EMD UK to influence policy, workforce frameworks and investment that ensures group exercise and group exercise instructors are recognised, credible and embedded within prevention, treatment and recovery pathways.  

The role will also focus on system change, national partnerships, workforce alignment and creating sustainable health-sector engagement and investment within group exercise.  

We have also recently appointed Dr Christina Hennessey to the EMD UK board. Christina is a General Practitioner with over 30 years of NHS experience and eight years in the private healthcare sector.  

Most recently, Christina served as Chief Medical Officer for Boots Digital Health, where she built the clinical team, governance framework, and clinical pathways from the ground up, supporting the safe and effective delivery of digital healthcare services.  

In her role with EMD UK, Christina will bring her extensive expertise in the health benefits of group exercise, clinical governance, regulatory compliance, safeguarding, and the challenges of managing sustainable growth while maintaining a strong focus on the wellbeing of both customers and staff. 

Together, these appointments will help us strengthen our work with the health sector and create clearer pathways for group exercise to play a greater role in prevention, treatment and recovery. By ensuring group exercise and the instructors who deliver it are recognised as an important part of the health sector, we can help improve prevention, support people living with long-term health conditions and ease pressure on the NHS.