On Thursday 21st November 2019, Deakin University held the Vice Chancellor’s Learning Awards to recognise and celebrate learning and teaching. It was here that DeakinACTIVE, managed by Clublinks, was honoured with the award for “Outstanding Contribution to Student Wellbeing and Safety”.
Clublinks commenced managing Deakin University’s leisure facilities in 2018. Since this time, fitness centres across multiple campuses have been transformed with the implementation of new technologically advanced equipment and systems, a vibrant and passionate onsite team, and a new brand, DeakinACTIVE. Planning for the changes required an integrated approach across DSL, Enterprise Finance and the new team at DeakinACTIVE.
Andrew Crowley, Manager, Sport and Recreation from Deakin University said “our collaboration with Clublinks and launching our new brand has contributed a significant benefit to the student experience and enabled focus on physical and mental health and awareness across all campuses”.
The changes at Deakin University have led to increases in participation and had a positive impact on the health and wellbeing of students. DeakinACTIVE memberships peaked at 2,000 in 2019 across Burwood, Geelong and Warrnambool. This is a 58% increase in memberships from 2017. The total number of visits to the fitness centre across campuses in 2018 was 65,000 and more than 12,200 people participated in sports programs.
Deakin aspires to be Australia’s premier university in driving the digital frontier – to enable globally connected education for jobs of the future and research that makes a difference to the communities served. In following this considered path, Clublinks, in partnership, developed Deakin Moves – a digital application that drives the student community to be fit, healthy, active and connect with other students as part of the university experience.
DeakinMOVES is a focused collaboration that shows serious dedication to improving the health and wellness outcomes beyond the walls of the bricks and mortar gym. To date, 3,000 students, staff and community members have downloaded the app and are using it daily. A recent Headspace survey showed that students are increasingly dealing with physical and mental health challenges. Being more active in day to day life and connecting with others is a great start to finding ways of coping with stress and the challenges of study.
Clublinks is privileged by its association with Deakin University, more specifically the Deakin Sport and Recreation and Student Life Teams and is proud of the diverse programs developed to deliver healthy lifestyle habits. The business’ experience, coupled with systems, resources, local knowledge and health ensure that these facilities are recognised locally and across the University sector as ‘World Class’, enhancing Deakin University’s reputation and delighting the staff and students on and off campus.
