Amazing things happen when you get out of the house…
Mission
Amazing things do happen when you get out of the house. Never has this been truer than in our post-Covid world when watching TV and being on social media is the new norm. We want all children to do activities, be healthy, and happy.
However, it is time we asked ourselves as parents, do we really want our kids spending so much time on iPads watching YouTube? From on-demand TV to social media, there are so many distractions and instant gratification boredom-fillers.
After being stuck indoors for too long during Covid watching Netflix and Disney Plus, we decided we must get out of the house and in 2021 we started walking around the Kent Coast. We started at the Dartford Bridge and walked 350km+ (we’re currently at Dungeness, so not far to go). Getting out the house was a game-changer. Our children had fun, were less irritable, and we loved seeing their boundless energy.
As a former Hoop user, I absolutely loved the app. It was a game-changer. I took George, my little boy, to forest classes in Sydenham, craft fayres in Bromley, and cinemas in Dulwich. We had trips to museums, and I even found a New Year’s Eve party for George in the New Forest on a holiday. Getting out of the house with my family is a chance to laugh and play together, to live life and have fun.
We’re on a mission! We want kids doing HEALTHY activities. No McDonald’s. We’re talking walks, hikes, crafts, outdoor or indoor events, running around, swimming, sailing… anything where children can be healthy.
Because amazing things really do happen when you get out of the house… Healthy, Happy, Hoop.
Tim
Dad to a 5- and 7-year-old
CEO of Hoop
Physiotherapist
Vision
I have a very specific vision, to change the way we view play. When I was a kid, play was riding a bicycle or kicking a ball in the park with friends. However, play has become on-line, e-sports, interactive computer games, phones. This worries me.
I believe we must try to get our kids less reliant on negative technology, and instead doing activities, exercise, crafts, sports, and playing. This will help our children to become healthier and happier. We’ll see less obesity, better concentration, reduced ill health and diabetes, more social children.
How does this shift occur?
By encouraging as many of our friends and families to use an app like Hoop that opens the door to activities, events, classes. Every single event, class and camp must be healthy – that’s our user agreement with our organisers. If we could simply get children close to nature, we’d see problems like ADHD and mental health disease reduce.
My vision is that Hoop will become the UK Leader on showcasing healthy events, classes and camps for children so we can shift them away from screens and on to activities. We want to make Hoop social, so parents can talk to other parents and arrange to meet up. We want organisers and small businesses to benefit, with increased revenue from camps and classes. We want parents to be able to list activities for themselves, or for organisers who may not be tuned into technology.
We need your help to spread the word about Hoop, so we can make it the number one place for parents to find healthy activities for children.
Hoop’s Values
Our values at Hoop are as follows:
- Treat everybody how we would want to be treated ourselves.
- List events with integrity that are healthy and safe for children.
- Encourage children to do healthy things, including eating less sugar, exercising more, drinking water, and getting close to nature.
- To encourage adventure.
- To lead with compassion.
- To always be kind.
- To live life and have fun.
- To be environmentally and socially sustainable.
