Motivate

- The Early Years
(1973-1979)
- Don't Just Think About it - Do It
(1983-1984)
- Body Break
(1989-1991)
- Vitality
(1991-1995)
- Sharing A Healthier Future
(1996-1998)

Mobilize

- ParticipACTION Saskatoon
- CrownLife ParticipACTION Challenge

Educate

- Healthy Active Living
(Older Adults)
- Fitness: The Facts
(Workplace)
- Project APEX
(Children)
- Promotions
(1972-79)
- Promotions
(1980-86)

Impact

- International Involvement
- Canadian Public Health Association Supplement

Structure

- Historic Timeline
- People
- Sponsors

CrownLife ParticipACTION Challenge

Fast Facts:
CrownLife ParticipACTION Challenge (Community Participation)
Dates: 1983-1995
Description: A community-based, one day, mass participation activity challenge.
Funding: Crown Life Insurance Company

Overview

Developed and managed nationally by ParticipACTION beginning in 1983. Initial year developed in cooperation with the City of Saskatoon and built upon its experience with the inter-city challenges against the Swedish City of Umeo. Continued annually for 13 years.

Target audience: all citizens (all ages) in each participating city.

Primary corporate partner was Crown Life Insurance Company. ParticipACTION also contributed substantially from its own funding and human resources. In addition, each participating community donated funds, human resources and substantial volunteer time in support of their local organizing committee.

No funding was provided by ParticipACTION to the local communities, only educational and promotional materials to assist their efforts.

OBJECTIVES

• A community-based, one day, mass participation event encouraging all citizens in each participating city to demonstrate their support for healthy, active living
• Aims to profile and support the efforts of local organizations, schools, workplaces, etc., who encourage regular physical activity and/or offer activity programs
• A “try it” or first step opportunity for the inactive to get started.
  Build community pride.

RESOURCES

• Personalized letters and interpretive brochure mailed to over 1,000 community mayors and their recreation directors, each year, inviting them to participate
• Registration form to be completed by mayor
• “Guide To Meeting The Challenge” – a “how to” book for planning, developing and implementing the Challenge at the community level
• “Great Ideas” – an extensive collection of promotional and program ideas gleaned from the successful experiences of other communities over the years
• Promotional Package – free materials in the volume required by each participating community, including letterhead, posters, flyers, logo sheets, print ads, volunteer “thank you” certificates, certificate to present to “winning” communities/mayors, interpretive video
• Challenge Merchandise – promotional merchandise for communities to purchase including T-shirts and sweatshirts, baseball caps, stickers, buttons, pens, pencils, water bottles, shoe laces, ParticipACTION pins, etc.

IMPLEMENTATION

• Initial years communities were allocated to one of five groupings depending on population size. Later years, each community was matched to another of a similar size, which proved to be more popular as there were more “winners”
• Became the largest physical activity participation event in Canada. For many years, annually saw over 500 participating communities; the donated time of approximately 850 paid staff locally (municipal recreation personnel for example); over 22,500 volunteer leaders; distribution of some 1.25 million promotional items bearing the sponsor and ParticipACTION logos; in excess of $3 million (value) in free, local media promotions; and over 4 million individuals registered as active participants
• Required, on the honour system, for each participant to perform at least 15 minutes of physical activity and then register their participation with their organizing group (school, workplace, volunteer organization, etc.) or telephone a local hotline (staffed by volunteers).

This Canadian ParticipACTION Challenge, its success and “how to” information, was shared with the international community via the Trim and Fitness International Sport For All organization (TAFISA), who build upon it to establish the highly successful, annual, international Challenge Day program which still continues and attracts over 25 million registered participants each year.