My First Steps to Move More

My First Steps

Finishing university without an ‘adult’ job secured is a scary thought!

I scrolled through hundreds of job/internship advertisements before I stumbled upon the Events and Marketing Internship role with Perfect Motion.

What a day.

If I got it I’d actually be able to gain marketing experience in an industry I care about.

Not only that, but I’d have the chance to work on some of the biggest mass participation sports events in the East Midlands.

So, after hours of preparation, and a surprisingly fun interview, I was asked to join the team for three months *SAY WHAAAAT!? *.

My First Project

One of the first projects I was to help Julie, my incredible marketing manager, with was Move More Derby.

Move More Derby is a campaign operating within mid-Derbyshire which encourages individuals to think about themselves, their physical activity and the community in which they live. Our task involves generating social media content, distributing printed materials and increasing the social media following.  We also signposted people to the website and encouraged them to complete the survey.

S**t! I’d never done anything like this before. Although it seemed like a fairly challenging project at first, I really was thrilled at the challenge of working directly on a campaign.

The client advised us that Derby is one of the cities with the highest rate of inactivity in the UK, with a vast number of people completing less than an hour’s exercise each week.

These statistics both shocked and motivated me.  We needed to bring this campaign to life to inspire the people the campaign was directly targeted at.  In addition to the core targets, Move More Derby really does appeal to everyone as I’m sure we could all do a bit more ourselves or know someone we’d like to encourage to do a bit more.

Social Media

So, I’ll start with the social media. The main purpose of the social media channels is to promote fun and low-cost activities and ideas. I’m constantly posting that keeping active doesn’t have to be strenuous, involve joining the gym or spending lots of money. Everyone has their own goals. That’s why the activities and challenges we promote could simply be getting off the bus one stop earlier, encouraging workplaces to make their lunch break active, or even just taking the kids to the park on a more regular basis.

It doesn’t end there though. I like to post about things a little bit more unusual. My research has enlightened me to the many bizarre activities which absolutely anybody can take part in around Derby. From digging up potatoes at the National Adventure Farm, learning how to make hedges with the Derby Parks team, right down to taking a guided bat walk – I’ve managed to find bucketloads of weird and wonderful activities that certainly increase movement, without seeming like exercise at all.

The Survey

Another part of my role is to promote the Move More Derby survey.

We know that nobody likes completing surveys, do they? However, by learning how to use Canva and Hootsuite (thanks to Julie for all of her patience), we create monthly posts with eye-catching visuals and incentives. These have actually generated loads of completions. Understanding the attitudes of Derby residents towards exercise means we can overcome the barriers and ultimately help to improve the health of the city.

Thank You

We are extremely grateful for all of the partners in this project. Special thanks must go to the teams at Derby City Council, Derby County Community Trust, Active Derbyshire, Livewell, Sporting Futures, Derby Trust, Sport England, Derby College and the University of Derby.

As well as all these official partners. The campaign has had an overwhelmingly positive response from other groups in and around Derby. For example, we’ve built and maintained a great relationship with the Core Concept and mid-Derbyshire Nordic walkers, who regularly update us with their latest trips, photos and news. The Nordic walking community is huge in Derby and can only get bigger, and with such beautiful surroundings to get active in – this activity is one I regularly promote.

As my time at Perfect Motion progressed, the campaign started generating much more engagement and I was offered a full-time job and given full responsibility of the project. So, thank you Move More Derby!