Asics Launches Mood Uplift Experiment In Nottinghamshire Town
Sportswear brand ASICS has teamed up with mental health charity Mind to launch a mental health experiment across a whole town in Nottinghamshire.
Following research into the mood of the nation, the ASICS State-of-Mind Index identified Nottinghamshire as the English county that most wanted a mental uplift, and the town of Retford was reported as one of the most motivated to improve their emotional and mental wellbeing.
As a result, ASICS and Mind will invite Retford residents to take part in a series of movement initiatives in order to measure the collective impact on their mental wellbeing.
Dr Brendon Stubbs – an expert on movement and mental health – will oversee the experiment, having helped design the day of events. The experiment will take place on Saturday 25th September, and will see the town’s streets transformed into a ‘movement inspired gym’ which will include the installation of a variety of exercise pop-ups designed to help get the public moving.
To quantify the ‘uplift’, residents will be invited to use the ASICS Mind Uplifter tool to measure their state of mind before and after taking part in an exercise circuit – designed to last approximately 20 minutes. Once a participant has registered a Mind Uplift via the tool, their individual data will be combined with results across the town in order to demonstrate the uplift that movement can have on the mood of the whole town.
Every participant who captures a Mind Uplift on the day will also raise funds for Mind’s charity work across the country, supporting its commitment to fight for better mental health.
“The last 18 months have been tough on people’s mental wellbeing, but we know exercise can be a positive source of energy,” said Gary Raucher, Executive Vice President, ASICS.
“ASICS has always believed that exercise is not only good for the body, but also for the mind. Now, we aim to demonstrate our brand belief in action by seeing if movement can uplift the mood of a whole town. We hope residents of Retford will lace up and be part of this unique experiment to raise spirits and raise funds for Mind.”
Dr Stubbs added: “After a prolonged period of uncertainty and restrictions there’s naturally been an impact on people’s wellbeing. However, this summer has shown the transformative nature of sport and the ability it has to uplift people.
“Never before has a whole town approach to uplifting mood through a day of exercise been attempted and measured in such a robust way.
“This is an exciting project with immediate results, and I expect there to be a marked improvement on the emotional and mental wellbeing of the residents of Retford given the cognitive, emotional and physical benefits of exercise.”
