Our Services
4-Week Wellbeing Workout
Session Overview
Are you struggling to get motivated to exercise? Over 4 weeks, learn practical tips and tricks on how to get motivated to start and sustain an exercise routine, what to do when the going gets tough and how to overcome barriers. Each 2-hour, psychologist-designed session combines education with an hour of group exercise to help improve your mood and fitness. This FREE program includes access to our supported exercise classes (all of which are only $5 per class) throughout the program, which you can then continue to access after the program to cement the good habits you have established.
Suitable for fitness levels beginner – advanced and is delivered online and face to face.
Week 1
Getting Started
In this session, we not only give you tools and tips to get started but also help you work through some critical process steps such as defining your purpose and how to set effective exercise goals. We then do our first exercise session!
Week 2
When the Going gets tough
We understand that despite putting the best plans in place, we can often experience a number of setbacks that then makes exercising tough. This session focuses on learning skills that can help you to keep persisting despite these setbacks including attentional switching, mindfulness and addressing negative thoughts. You then get to immediately test these in your 2nd exercise session.
Week 3
Building Confidence
We discuss the key techniques that build confidence and then get you practising these. This includes the importance of mastering a skill one step at a time, drawing on your social group and learning from others. Then we complete our 3rd exercise session.
Week 4
Sustaining the Habit
In our last of the 4 sessions, we equip you with the skills and tools needed to continue on your path to living a more active life. We look at how to form a habit, overcoming boredom with exercise and the value of rewards. We then complete our final exercise session.
Mood Active Supported Exercise Classes
Currently Available Classes
Once you learn the basics of making exercise part of your life, we provide friendly, non-judgemental classes for you to practice this skill. Mood Active exercise classes are different from what you may experience in a commercial gym, as our goal is to help you develop the routines and skills needed to sustain an exercise program for life. We are also helping you build your confidence to attend fitness classes away from Mood Active, but if you want to keep coming to our classes, you are always welcome.
We are always looking to add new exercises - if you want to try something new, let us know and we will do our best - we want you to have fun!
Cardio Tennis
Cardio tennis is non-competitive. Like all our programs and classes, we aim to get you moving, having fun and learning new skills. We have run hundreds of cardio tennis classes over the past 11 years and our participants all have fun....many of them keep coming back!
Yoga
Yoga is great for your whole body and brain, but a lot of people are scared off by the pics of supremely serene people bending and contorting in ways that you can't even imagine. Rest assured, this is not how we do yoga at Mood Active!
Our instructors are sensitive to your needs and provide support that is targeted at your mental health while getting you stretching, improving your strength and flexibility. And an added convenience for many is that a lot of our yoga classes are offered online, so you don't even have to leave home to participate.
Boxing
Boxing for mental health?!?!?!
Yes, really. have you ever noticed how fit boxers are? Mood Active boxing is a great way to get fit and toned in a friendly environment with other people in the Mood Active community supported by trainers who are there to help you improve your mood - and not train you for the next prizefight.
Come along and find out how exhilarating and fun boxing can be!
Walking groups
Mood active offers peer-run as well as instructor-facilitated walking and running groups. If you want to set one up yourself, our membership also allows you to target people who live near you. You just set a day and time and put it up on the Calendar. Job done, just turn up and walk with your new friends (or run if that's more your pace).
Mood Active Membership
Let's do this together!
We know that exercising can be hard at times.....who hasn't opted for staying in bed on a cold windy morning?
We also know that being part of a group of people, all of whom are asking the same question, helps us with motivation. Once we get there, groups make the whole thing more fun.
Another key benefit of Mood Active is that you get to meet lots of other people who are going through their own battles with mental health, and many of our past participants have found that meeting these people has helped enormously.
Join up now - it's free!
What does membership give me?
Included in Mood Active membership is:
Our 4-week wellbeing workshop which helps you develop the exercise habit.
Then access to all our supported exercise classes - meeting more new friends and learning new skills while embedding exercise in your life.
You get a secure login to our membership portal, which allows you to book the 4WWW and subsequent supported exercise classes. This makes the whole process easy for you to participate and make new friends. You can even organise your own group exercise!
How does it work?
Your first step is to join up. The button is below.
Next, you need to fill in the pre-workshop questionnaire (via the link we provide in your welcome email). Our programs are supported by clinical research and your participation continues to contribute to this research. Measuring the impact of the Mood Active programs is a critical component of this, and your registration establishes a baseline for you. This survey is confidential and is not shared with any other participants, apart from you when we measure your improvement over the next 3 months.
Next, book and attend the 4WWW. Then, you can book and attend supported exercise classes - you can keep attending these as long as you like
When you feel you are ready, we will help you investigate and start an exercise program in the world outside Mood Active.
Join Mood Active
Please note, that due to the nature of our work and the range of mental health issues we address, we need to know a bit about you and any issues you may be encountering that will affect your ability to get the most out of our programs and services. This information is kept strictly private and confidential. To view our privacy policy, please click here.
We are kindly supported by
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Mood Active is a registered charity with full Deductible Gift Recipient (DGR) status and all donations over $2 are tax deductible
LIFT YOUR MOOD
This is the spot to give us money
Mood Active’s sole purpose is to improve the mental health and well being of more Australian adults by ensuring that supervised supportive exercise programs are accessible and affordable to all.
We rely on the generous support of volunteers and donations, and are incredibly grateful to those who have provided their support and continue to do so on an ongoing basis.
We have deductible gift recipient status, which means your donations are tax deductible. Please keep a copy of your payment receipt for your records.
Partnering with Mood Active
Cardio Tennis is where we started over 10 years ago.
Now we provide many ways for people to learn to exercise. We are looking for sponsors to help us build our capacity to deliver to more people who are suffering with mood disorders including depression, anxiety, bi-polar and other illnesses.
I would like to enquire about sponsorship
Who are we and what do we do?
Mood Active is an organisation dedicated to enabling people to build exercise into their own mental health wellbeing routine.
We want to see more GPs and other clinicians, prescribing exercise to combat mood disorders!
We do this through supporting people on their journey to better mental health - starting with our 4WWW program.
Our programmes are built to be sustainable. As we expand, we are looking to partner with organisations that can help us grow and continue to help people with mental illness and other mood disorders across Australia in clinically proven ways that work for them.
Who do we work with?
Mood Active has partnered with Councils (City of Sydney, Randwick, Parramatta), Corporates (Jones Lang Lasalle), State Government (NSW Government) and Not-For-Profits (Stride, CASS). We can also work with family and/or friendship groups.
Our programs are based on research which shows that supervised, moderate to intense exercise for 150 minutes a week for 8-12 weeks can assist to alleviate the symptoms of mild to moderate mood disorders.
Our signature 4WWW has been co-designed by a Psychologist and Masters of Coaching graduate. Our programs can be tailored to suit small and large groups in both face-to-face and virtual settings. Over 70% of participants report an increase in both mood and physical activity levels upon completing our programs.
We need your support
We need support for to deliver our 4WWW program to vulnerable people
- our events - including large-scale events
- funding for transport – for our particpants who can't afford to travel
- equipment for the participants to us on the day
- help with developing, supporting and running the online systems that support these activities
We are looking for sponsorship partners who can help fund
- the administrative costs of running this charity, especially the travel and accommodation required for interstate expansion as well as salaries for the tiny team of Mood Active staff
- running our membership systems which are crucial for Mood Active growth to support more vulnerable Australians
What can we do for a sponsor?
Your involvement would demonstrate your support for this unique and much-needed cause. Sponsorship could provide the following opportunities:
In-house exercise programs
Our programs are suitable for anyone - and we have already tailored the 4WWW to work in a company setting for employees and managers to improve their mood - especially given the huge disruption to work practices driven by COVID-19 and the new approach to hybrid work that is sweeping the nation.
We can offer the option of running the 4WWW for your employees at a rate that will also subsidise our program for vulnerable Australians
Staff engagement
- Assisting at Mood Active events with activities on the day.
- Holding joint fundraising events, e.g. corporate golf days.
- Your staff can bring their skills to our team assisting in back-office support tasks.
Promotional Opportunities
- Facilities Sponsorship - Banners at the locations of Mood Active events.
- Co-branding of equipment – for example, shirts and caps at Mood active classes, fundraising events and Mood Active volunteer trainers.
- Online presence - web site main banner, Facebook/Instagram/Twitter, event registration and communications, banners in member e-newsletters and other emails.
- Signage and speaker opportunities at National and State-based annual fundraising events.
We can offer tiered sponsorship arrangements depending on the level of support ranging from:
- presenting partner;
- supplier partner; and
- official partner.
Classes
- How do I join?
You can join on the website here. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us via the button at the bottom of each page or phone our Operations Manager on 0412 190 842; our referral procedure is informal, although it does help us to know of your referrer (GP, psychiatrist, psychologist, community mental health centre etc) if any.
- How much does the program cost?
membership and the 4WWW are free as they are subsidised by our sponsors and partners. the supported exercise classes attract a small fee, generally $5.00, payable at the time of booking. Don't worry, if you have to cancel we can generally refund your fees anyway (as long as you don't leave it to the last minute).
- What is the registration/assessment procedure?
We use the DASS (Depression, Anxiety & Stress Scales) and RDQ (Remission from Depression Questionnaire) and a depression symptom checklist to assess mood functionality of each participant when you join.
- Can I attend on a casual basis?
Yes. We normally require that you undertake the free 4WWW course prior to attending supported exercise classes, but if this is not possible for you, please contact us to discuss your specific needs. We will try at all times to help.
- Can I continue to attend classes forever?
Yes, our Casual classes are designed to help you keep up your exercise routine. We do, however, encourage you to improve your confidence to the point where you can access the much wider range of exercise classes provided by community gyms such as PCYC or commercial gyms in your local area. If you can do this, then you can give yourself a pat on the back. If this takes a while (or you never get there), we will always welcome you at Mood Active classes.
- Are the exercise trainers certified and vaccinated?
Yes. Whether yoga, circuit fitness, cardio tennis, or any of our classes, all our trainers are fully accredited, insured and First Aid certified. We require all our trainers to be vaccinated for COVID-19, including keeping up-to-date with boosters.
- Is there any medical or psychological intervention offered by Mood Active?
No, we run group exercise classes. All our trainers and committee members do however have an interest in and commitment to exercise as an invaluable therapy option for treating depression and other mood disorders.
Referring GPs, Psychiatrists & Psychologists
- How do I refer a patient/client?
No formal referral letter is required. You can either call or text our Operations Manager on 0412 190 842 or use the contact form to pass on your client's details and our Operations Manager will get in touch with them. Your client can also contact us directly.
- How do I decide if this program is right for my client?
We work with people suffering from a range of mood disorders: depression, anxiety, bipolar disorder, post-natal depression and PTSD. The program is not suitable for patients suffering acute psychosis and/or at immediate risk of self-harm.
- What if my client needs support or becomes distressed during a class?
Our trainers have experience helping people who are struggling with depression/anxiety, and have access to advice and guidance from a clinical psychologist. If you would like us to stay in contact with you regarding your client’s progress we are happy to do so.
Operations
- What kind of entity is Mood Active?
Mood Active is an incorporated association and is also registered with the Australian Charities and Not for Profits Commission (ACNC). ABN: 89 374 919 389
- How is Mood Active managed?
The committee is currently made up of five people with expertise in group exercise, psychology research, media & communications, events and finance. The day to day management of Mood Active is undertaken by the General Manager, accountable to the Committee.
- Will my personal information remain confidential?
Yes. Information on all our participant assessment forms is protected by our constitution and we have procedures to ensure its confidentiality. We will only follow-up with your referring GP or psychologist/counsellor if you are happy for us to do so.
- Is Mood Active NDIS Registered?
No, however, our programs and classes are eligible for NDIS funding from your plan. If you have any queries on this matter, please consult your plan manager.
Funding
- Where does Mood Active get its funds from?
Grants, program contributions from participants; donations/sponsorship (private & corporate); our own fund-raising events.
- How can I contribute?
You can help us to keep Mood Active classes going by making a donation via PayPal - see the tab on the right hand side of the page - and keep your tax deductible receipt!
Finances
- If I make a donation is it tax deductible?
Yes. Mood Active is endorsed by the ATO for Deductible Gift Recipient Status (DGR).
- Is Mood Active licensed for fundraising activities?
Yes. Cert no. CFN 23385.
- Does Mood Active get its financials audited?
Yes. Our financial reports are audited annually by Sea Change Accounting.
- Does Mood Active have procedures for handling cash & expenses?
Yes. We have transparent authorisation procedures in place for all expenses and payments.
- Is the Mood Active association insured?
Yes. Public liability & professional indemnity insurance. Lloyds Policy no. GL2372 and AL0063.