Step Up Sunderland
Making the Residents of Sunderland More Active
The Step Up Sunderland project was envisioned by Sunderland City Council. The project aims to increase the physical activity levels of residents in Sunderland by providing a free app that rewards users for being active.
After a competitive pitching process to select the developer for the platform, we were chosen to create the app and the infrastructure to powers it. We worked closely with the council to ensure that the app met their requirements and was easy to use for the residents of Sunderland.
The native iOS and Android apps allow users to track their activity using their phone's built in pedometer, or by connecting to a FitBit device. Users can then earn points and rewards for their activity. They can then redeem these points for rewards such as gym access passes, discount vouchers and more.
The app was a huge success, and more than 15,000 residents of Sunderland signed up to take part. More than 4 billion steps were tracked by users aged 12 to from 89!
After the success of the app, we were asked to create a web-based dashboard for the council to manage the app. This dashboard allows the council to view analytics, manage users, manage rewards and more.
We continued to make upgrades to the app in the years after launch, including badges, push notifications, and upcoming events. "From the outset, the team at Throneware were absolutely brilliant at listening to our aims and providing us with a range of options to consider. The team are clearly very skilled and are excellent communicators. Working with Throneware has been a genuine partnership."
The success of the project led to partnerships and a licensing arrangement with other councils, including the Step Up Newcastle project which you can find more about here.