King's College London

The Active Wellness Scheme is an initiative to help anyone within the King’s community who suffers from any mental or physical health issues through the use of exercise therapy.

King’s Sport has support over 130 students since January 2019 through a 6 week fitness programme to educate students on the mental and physical health benefits of being physically active. All of King’s Sport Fitness Coaches are Mental Health First Aid qualified and have furthered their skills set through additional Mental Health training.

King’s Sport began the Active Wellness Scheme to aid the Student Support Services at King’s College London. As a department, King’s Sport have developed partnerships with areas of the University to refer students onto the scheme, in order to continue to pursue a world class student experience at King’s. Educating students of the benefits to exercise and working closely with a coach has proven to lead to an increase in academic attainment.

Creating a social environment for the student at all King’s Sport facilities is a priority for the Active Wellness Scheme. The scheme has indicated a wellbeing improvement of 19% post completion using the Warwick Edinbrugh Mental Wellbeing Scale. 100% of students completing the scheme would recommend the Active Wellness Scheme to friends and colleagues.

Jasmin's Story

I’m a postgraduate student here at King’s and was referred onto the Active Wellness Scheme through my Residences Welfare Lead Team. They felt that exercise could be of benefit to my chronic health condition and having always struggled to exercise safely, I decided to give the scheme a go. 

Before Active Wellness Scheme, I was really concerned about the impact exercise would have on my symptoms and the risk of injury. However, the initial questionnaires and consultation were thorough, so my coach had a good awareness of my needs and limitations.

During the sessions, all the exercises and correct form were clearly explained and demonstrated, so I was confident in carrying out the program in my own time. I had perhaps expected the workout programme to be quite generic but was pleased to find this was not the case, and that it reflected my level and gave targets for progression.

The weekly sessions helped me stay on track throughout the scheme and it was valuable to be given a workout programme at the end so I could continue to work towards my goals.

Overall, I really enjoyed the scheme - it was very interesting to see what I could achieve with the right advice and mentoring! Jonny was a very patient and thorough coach and took time to repeat things when needed. Through his encouragement, I found I was far more capable than I initially expected, and I have had to re-think my perceived limitations.

I now regularly use the gym (even the weights!), and recently updated my programme through a session with my coach. I was also encouraged to attend classes during the scheme, which I enjoy and are now a part of my routine.

Everyone on the King’s Sport Team is really enthusiastic and friendly and are always happy to help with demonstrating equipment or exercise form. I can definitely feel the benefit of exercising more on my overall wellbeing and would recommend Active Wellness Scheme without hesitation.