Vitality further strengthens its commitment to women’s sport by partnering with This Mum Runs

29 October 2020 – Vitality, the innovative health and life insurance and investment company, has today announced two new partnerships, one with leading gender equality charity, Women in Sport, and the other with the running community, This Mum Runs, further reaffirming the insurer’s commitment to women’s sport.

As an Official Wellness Partner, Vitality will work with both organizations to inspire many more women and girls to get active and take up sport, in line with their core purpose - to make people healthier and to enhance and protect their lives.

The partnerships are the latest to be announced from Vitality - who was recently confirmed as sponsor of the Vitality Women’s FA Cup for the next three years - which all recognise the significant impact the pandemic has had on female participation, exacerbating the gap between how physically active men and women are*.

Women in Sport

Women in Sport is the UK’s leading women’s sport charity who, for the last 35 years, has been dedicated to insight and action around increasing female participation. As part of their new partnership, Vitality will collaborate and work closely with the charity to break down the barriers that women face at different stages of their lives and drive their participation in sport and physical activity.

This Mum Runs (Now This Woman Runs)

This Mum Runs is one of the world’s largest running communities dedicated to mums and Vitality will work closely with founder Mel Bound and the 100k-strong community of women, supporting them to empower mums everywhere to be healthier and happier. As part of their partnership, Vitality and TMR will create community-based initiatives that enable women to overcome their barriers to exercise, enhance the experience within the TMR Run30 coaching app, and encourage women to join their network of free weekly runs. Vitality will also sponsor their network of volunteers - known as TMR Run Angels - who drive participation within their local communities.

Nick Read, Managing Director for Vitality, said: “We're incredibly excited to be announcing these two new and different partnerships today, which once again highlights our commitment to supporting more women to get active and involved in sport.

“With the pandemic significantly impacting activity levels in women, we will work directly with both This Mum Runs and Women in Sport to understand and break down the challenges women face when trying to get active, which is all in line with our core purpose to make people healthier and enhance and protect their lives.”

Stephanie Hilborne, CEO Women in Sport added: “Women in Sport recognises the unique role Vitality plays in giving women’s sport the recognition it deserves. We are delighted to be partnering with Vitality so that together we can transform attitudes and behaviours until physical activity becomes a normal part of the life of every woman.

“There is much still to be done to close the gender play gap and shift the stubborn inequalities that hold women back in life and sport. This powerful partnership will play a key role in inspiring change so that more women are living healthier and happier lives.”

Mel Bound, Founder & CEO of This Mum Runs, said: “At the very heart of This Mum Runs is a desire to create a world where all women enjoy the life changing benefits of being active; to understand the barriers that many women face, and unlock them using the power of a supportive community that “gets you”, and a pressure free ethos. Having Vitality’s backing is a huge boost to the work we are doing, our values are so closely aligned we know our community will benefit significantly.”

Notes to editors

* LOCKDOWN RESEARCH IMPLICATIONS FOR WOMEN’S PARTICIPATION, Women in Sport, June 2020.

For further information, please contact: 

Alexa Chaffer, Head of PR, Vitality

Press@vitality.co.uk

About Vitality – positively different health insurance, life insurance, and investments 

Vitality is part of Discovery Limited, a worldwide insurer and investment manager protecting more than eight million members in 18 countries worldwide, across Europe, the United States, Australia, South Africa, Canada and China.

Vitality pioneered the ‘shared-value’ insurance model, a unique approach based on the scientifically proven principles of behavioural economics. Through this model, Vitality helps members take a more active role in managing their own wellness, encouraging them to develop healthy long-term habits that are good for them, good for the company and good for society. The effect is positive for all stakeholders – members benefit from better health, financial rewards and additional incentives; employers benefit from healthier, more productive, and more engaged employees; and Vitality benefits from a healthier membership base.

Vitality Ambassadors Jessica Ennis-Hill, Heather Knight, Tracey Neville, Alex Scott, Ellie Simmonds, Jos Buttler, Maro Itoje, Joe Root and Jonny Wilkinson are role models who embody the company’s values. They use their passion for living a healthy, active lifestyle to motivate others to make positive changes, promoting the message that taking small steps today can dramatically improve wellbeing over the long-term.

In the UK, Vitality operates as three distinct businesses: VitalityHealth, VitalityLife and VitalityInvest.

About VitalityHealth 

VitalityHealth is one of the UK’s leading private medical insurers. Through applications of the shared value model to health insurance, VitalityHealth incentivises members to get healthy, motivating better lifestyle choices and rewarding them for doing so. All VitalityHealth members receive Core Cover, giving them access to private GP video consultations within 48 hours and a Full Cover Promise (including full cover for eligible in-patient and day-patient consultant’s fees). For more information, visit www.vitalityhealth.co.uk  

About VitalityLife 

VitalityLife is one of the fastest-growing life insurers in the UK, offering award-winning cover to thousands of members. VitalityLife is unique to the UK protection market, with a suite of products including Life Cover, Income Protection Cover, Serious Illness Cover and Business Protection. By recognising people's efforts to look after themselves, VitalityLife offers a more comprehensive set of benefits than traditional insurers, and at highly competitive prices. For more information visit www.vitalitylife.co.uk  

About VitalityInvest 

VitalityInvest is a revolutionary investment proposition designed to prepare customers for the retirement of tomorrow. It brings the shared value insurance model to the long-term savings market. The proposition consists of three products - a stocks and shares ISA, a junior ISA and a retirement plan - available through financial advisers. The products incorporate features aimed at generating economic value for all stakeholders through positive, long-term behaviour change. For more information, visit www.vitality.co.uk/investments   

here.