VicHealth's wellness and activity promotion recognised with Australasian Leisure Management award

The pioneering work of the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) in the promotion good health and physical activity has been recognised in the 2018 Australasian Leisure Management Communication and Marketing Awards.

Acknowledged in the ‘Not-for-Profit’ category of the Awards, the recognition from Australasian Leisure Management takes account of VicHealth’s wide-ranging intervention campaigns and its effective communication of these initiatives.

Described as a “world-first health promotion foundation”, VicHealth creates and fund world-class interventions through research to advance Victoria’s population health and producing and supporting public campaigns to promote a healthier Victoria.

A statement from VicHealth advises “of all the things we do, above all we seek to make health gains among Victorians by pre-empting and targeting improvements in health across our population, fostered within the day-to-day spaces where people spend their time, and with benefits to be enjoyed by all.”

In the past year campaign and communication activities from VicHealth have included the This Girl Can - Victoria women’s physical activity and sport campaign; helping sporting organisations engage with teenagers; funding of local sports clubs; encouraging LGBTI inclusion among athletes, clubs and organisations; overcoming barriers to women’s activity; calling for supermarkets to take action on obesity and backing sports clubs to meet demands for women’s sport.

In addition, with many of their campaigns VicHealth provides funding support to implement change.

Recognising these achievements, Nigel Benton, Publisher of Australasian Leisure Management explains “looking at communication and marketing activities in this sector over the past year, VicHealth stands out above all others in the not-for-profit sector.

“With leaders from Chief Executive Jerril Rechter and the media team headed by Rachel Murphy, VicHealth has been incredibly effective in delivering relevant campaigns to improve health and wellness as well as in communicating these campaigns."

VicHealth’s win came as a result of a nomination by a third party.

Acknowledging how the leisure industry - covering aquatics, attractions, entertainment, events, fitness, parks, recreation, sport, tourism and venues - communicates how it entertains, enriches and improves quality of life as well as how it engages with consumers to generate business success and deals with scrutiny, the 14 Australasian Leisure Management Communication and Marketing Awards are being announced over three weeks.

Commenting on submissions for the Awards, Australasian Leisure Management Editor Karen Sweaney stated “we were hugely impressed by the number and quality of nominations and entries that we have had for the awards ... we truly didn’t expect the level of response that we have received.

“What is wonderful is that these high quality submissions show the extraordinary level of professionalism and achievement in communication and marketing in the leisure industry.”

The 14 Award recipients each receive a simple trophy with, Sweaney explains, “an asymmetrical design that represents the different stages of the journey to achieve best practice with a pinnacle which symbolises that only a few can achieve award-winning excellence.”

Images: VicHealth has promoted a range of physical activity (top) and Jerril Rechter (below).