After being trained by Oomph!, the team at Whitefriars began delivering three exercise classes a week for residents, and they’ve had resoundingly positive feedback and very high participation levels.

It soon became clear that Phil, who is living with dementia, enjoyed taking part in these classes – so much so that he now helps lead the sessions! The exercise sessions have given Phil a new lease of life, and he has come out of his shell since arriving at the home – not only does he encourage other residents to join in with the classes, but he also encourages them to join in with other activities at the home, including gardening in the summer months.

Phil’s enthusiasm didn’t go unnoticed with Oomph!’s Regional Wellbeing Coordinator, Jade, who awarded him with his very own Oomph! t-shirt to wear.

Nesta Impact Investments invests in life-changing innovations that help tackle the major challenges faced by older people, children and communities in the UK. We invest primarily to create real and lasting social impact in the UK, as well as generating a financial return for our investors. So we decided to invest in Oomph!.

As the UK’s leading wellbeing business for older adults, Oomph! aims to enhance mental, physical and emotional wellbeing. Overall, Oomph! now delivers 55,000 innovative exercise classes per year for older people, through training and support. From 2018 to 2019, Oomph! also engaged 21,000 residents in trips out to local destinations through their minibus excursions service.

We are seeing a rise in the number of social ventures with a mission to solve major social challenges and improve the lives of millions of people, as well as growing sustainable and scalable businesses. These ventures need access to the right capital and support to enable them to grow and bring the benefit of innovation to everyone in society.

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