FAQs.

Our BuddyBoost challenges use a combination of behaviour change methodology, plus being a bit of fun, to help people form healthy habits. For example, with BuddyBoost Active - it's proven that being active on a daily basis – even for as little as 26 minutes – has a positive impact on both physical and mental wellbeing. In fact, BuddyBoost has been academically validated by Sheffield Hallam University as “making a contribution to improvements in Health Related Quality of Life and an increase in post-activity mental wellbeing.” The community aspect of BuddyBoost also helps to build relationships among employees, especially with hybrid working where colleagues are not seeing each other regularly in the workplace.

We know that the biggest business benefit for you is delivered by improving the health and wellbeing of those that are stressed, inactive, unfit or at risk of developing chronic conditions. This is why we’ve designed BuddyBoost to be for absolutely everyone, not just the usual suspects. As a result, BuddyBoost challenges are very appealing to people who know they should take more care of themselves, but either don't know how to or just don't get round to it. And the special ingredient is the buddy and community aspect, which people find supportive and motivating; plus we make things achievable with a mantra of 'a little every day' so that BuddyBoost challenges are achievable, even for busy people. People who are already active also join in as a way of supporting and encouraging their colleagues who need some buddy support.

The only thing you need is a smart phone to log your activity on the BuddyBoost app. All of our challenges are designed to be highly inclusive. Even with BuddyBoost Active, since you can do any sort of physical activity and it doesn’t matter how far or how fast you go, people with very limited mobility can take part.

During the challenge itself, you will be able to see, in real time, the number of people taking part and engagement levels in your organisation’s community feed. That feed also features a daily activity and mood score. At the end of the challenge, we provide you with a full impact report showing what has happened to activity and mood levels compared to what they were prior to the start of BuddyBoost. This is also broken down for you by business area and various cohorts on request. The data is clear, simple and provides insight for further interventions.

We provide a full campaign pack for you (with your own dedicated landing page) in order to launch BuddyBoost through your internal comms channels, whether that’s an intranet, email, Yammer, Workplace, posters or your own digital channel. We’ll discuss with you any specific messaging for your organisation and adapt and brand the materials accordingly.

We've found the organisations with the best engagement are ones where senior management are actively involved in the challenge. It can also help to have advocates within the business to help communicate about the challenge to their teams and encourage staff to sign-up and take part. Buddies are also important. We see a 38% increase in activity when people 'buddy up' in the app. And it's easy to do. People can send a buddy invite from the app, which allows them to either search for friends already using the BuddyBoost app, or the app's invite mechanism allows people to send a pre-made invite via email, WhatsApp or text. It's better with buddies!

We are fully GDPR compliant and the BuddyBoost app does not interact with any of your HR or IT systems. All participants need to register is a smartphone and an email address – and you can specify in your communications if you would like them not to use their organisation email addresses. Normally all that is required to satisfy our clients’ questions is one meeting with a relevant data or information security officer.

Our Star Buddies are here to join you and your employees in a BuddyBoost challenge. They’ll help launch the initiative with an inspirational webinar, do their daily 26 minutes and share tips and stories in your company’s BuddyBoost community feed. Star Buddies are an optional extra and we’ll find the right personality to meet the needs of your organisation. Our roster focuses on para-athletes, such as World Champion wheelchair racer, Sammi Kinghorn, as their inspirational stories are great examples of how being active really is for everyone. We can also provide Star Buddies for other challenges where their stories are inspiring for the challenge participants.

All your employees will have access to BuddyBoost and your organisation’s community feed for the duration of your challenge. You can then use the insight from the impact data to inform how you activate new challenges.

Yes. However, it is a better experience on a handheld device. We would advise that you should register and invite a buddy using a handheld device, rather than an iPad, to avoid any difficulties.

Yes it is available in most countries worldwide. We have run challenges in Australia, USA, Singapore, the UAE and across Europe.

Yes we comply with all relevant regulations. Please see our privacy policy for more details.

The app currently links with Strava. Please keep an eye on the app as we will be updating our BuddyBoost Active challenge with other wearables such as FitBit.

It’s easy, just download the free BuddyBoost app from the App Store or Google Play. You’ll be asked for your email address and to answer two simple questions relating to how active you are and how you generally feel. As part of the registration process, once you enter your email address an email will be sent to you from noreply@buddyboost.co.uk containing a 6-digit one time passcode (OTP). Please note we have done our best to ensure this OTP email can pass through most filters, but please check your spam or junk files in case it has been diverted by your email filter.

Yes. The calendar is open all the time. If you are doing a challenge with your company, this will run for a calendar month, and so ideally you should sign-up before the 1st.

BuddyBoost is a great way for you and your kids to be active together. Daily family time will help add structure to your day and help create a routine that makes time for wellbeing.

One of BuddyBoost’s goals is to help as many people as possible to feel healthier and happier. So that we can understand whether or not BuddyBoost is working, it’s important for us to get an indication of how active and how happy people are when they sign-up. Ultimately, we want to help public health bodies develop better strategies for increasing physical and mental wellbeing.

As above, BuddyBoost’s goal is to help as many people as possible to feel healthier and happier. Knowing a bit more about who is using the BuddyBoost app can help inform strategies on how to improve physical and mental wellbeing where it is needed most. Please also be reassured that all data is anonymised, aggregated and GDPR compliant.

BuddyBoost will look after any personal information you share with us. This is central to our values as an organisation. We want you to feel confident about how any personal information you share with us will be looked after or used. Our privacy policy and terms of use can be found on the BuddyBoost app and website, and explain how we process, store and use personal data. Please note that as set out in our privacy policy, we will not use your information for marketing purposes.

As with any app that uses multi-media, the strength of the internet connection is a factor. BuddyBoost works best with a stable wi-fi connection, but it will also work with a 4G phone connection, although the speed may be impacted.

No. You don’t have to have a buddy or buddies, but it’s more fun if you do. You’re also more likely to stick to doing activity as you’ll feel that sense of accountability to your buddy or buddies. The great thing about BuddyBoost is that your buddies don’t need to be physically there with each other when you do your activity – it’s more about supporting and encouraging each other.

Once you’ve downloaded the app, you can invite up to 11 friends to be your buddies. When they download the app and sign-up, your accounts are then linked together. Just pull down the screen to refresh the app and you’ll see your buddy’s name in the page ‘buddies’ screen. You’ll also see each others’ profile photo if you’ve uploaded one in the ‘Profile’ section of the app. Within the buddies screen you have your own private feed and also can see whether your buddies have done their activity that day. You can also send messages and boosts and comments to your buddies.

No, only your results will count towards your personal BuddyBoost streak. Ultimately this is about you, but we know that the buddy relationship is important to help us stick at something, keep us connected and have a bit more fun. You will notice that the Buddy page has a 'Buddy streak' at the top of it. This score does what it says on the tin - so this is affected by whether or not your buddies have also done their activity!

You can only be in one buddy group at a time. It’s possible that you may receive an invitation to join a different buddy group from the one you are already in. As you can only be a member of one group at a time, you’ll have to decide if you want to accept the new invitation and leave your existing group or decline the new invitation and stay where you are. It’s also possible that you decide you want to leave your existing group without having received a new invitation. If you want to do this, then click on the 3 ‘breadcrumbs’ at the top right of the Buddies screen & you will have the option to leave the group. From here, you can then invite other people, or ask to be invited to their group.

If you're doing BuddyBoost Active then literally any activity counts... whether it's hardcore running or gardening or dance or just walking - it all counts the same! The main thing is that by moving and ideally elevating your heart rate you get the health benefits. With BuddyBoost Timeout the only rule we have is that it should be something you enjoy and that isn't work! That way, you'll help yourself to destress and commit a little bit of time to helping you feel better.

The great thing about BuddyBoost is that you can do any kind of exercise and at any time you like, as long as it’s for at least 26 minutes during that day. You may be super busy, but taking a break to do a bit of exercise should help your mood and stress levels too. If you can only fit in a brisk walk during the day at work, that’s just as good as doing a fitness video in your living room or going for a jog. Whatever fits in best with your schedule. There are lots of suggestions via the ‘resources’ section of the app and on the website. The same applies to BuddyBoost Timeout.

If you're doing Timeout or Active, then there’s no need to do more than 26 minutes (but of course you can if you want to) – and you don’t even have to do them all in one go. The timer on the app has a pause function, so you could do 10 minutes in the morning and finish the rest in the evening. Just remember, it’s not about how fast, how far or how many calories. It is simply about you and your buddy doing the 26 minutes of activity each day and what impact the activity has on your mood and your overall health. If you're doing Good Food or Green, then you will have a short video or piece of content to watch each day, and then a daily challenge to put your new knowledge into action.

Ideally you should log your activity on the day itself. The main reason for this is so that your buddy knows you have done your 26 minutes. The other reason is for you to see your streak building up day-by-day. You’ll also get to enjoy the daily celebration the App shares with you! However, if you do forget, then you are able to log your activity and mood retrospectively by pressing the relevant day on the calendar.

Occasionally it won’t be possible to do your 26 minutes – your day gets too hectic or something else crops up – don’t worry. Your target over the week should be to exceed the 150 minutes of moderate exercise per week that is recommended by the Chief Medical Officer – and you can actually hit this by doing 6 out of 7 days a week.

For the Active challenge, so long as your doctor has approved you taking light exercise, there’s no reason why you can’t take part. Remember, it’s not about how fast or hard you exercise, it’s about being active for 26 minutes a day. Above all be sensible and be safe.

Well, the simplest way is via the app in the Community Feed. You can join the online BuddyBoost community via Facebook and Instagram to share your personal progress and feel supported by endless amounts of encouragement.

Share your thoughts, ask a question or simply say hello by emailing us at support@buddyboost.co.uk – the emails are checked regularly during Monday to Friday and we do our best to respond within 48 hours.