Healthcare Heroes Award Nominee Covid Fit Club

The initiative Covid Fit Club, started by two Grade 11 TISB students, Rohan and Akash, has been nominated for the ‘Healthcare Heroes Award’ – the first award given by Onlymyhealth.com to celebrate the hard work and resilience of Corona-warriors. The Covid Fit Club initiative is not only providing physical exercise and mental wellbeing, but also donates the surplus from the venture to COVID relief and other charities.

We provide teenagers across India, to be a part of an organisation which is a hands-on business- helping one transfer their knowledge from the textbooks into the real world, and doing so effectively – Rohan, Grade 11

The initiative was started in May 2020, and has since spread rapidly and gotten recognition and press, with articles posted in, for example, Times of India, Indian Express and Deccan Herald. “The initiative was started to cope with the mental pandemic that runs alongside the COVID pandemic. It is important as it helps teenagers and children cope with all the issues at hand simultaneously – building the immunity to fight the pandemic, engaging with their friends and classmates online”, Rohan explains.

Since the start the initiative has grown from being just Rohan and Akash doing exercise classes from their homes, to currently including 43 team members: 15 instructors as well as 28 members on the business team – many of whom are students at TISB. The sessions are currently serving over 100 clients and are targeted towards ages 5-15 from all across India. The classes are held after school as well as the weekend, based on the type of class as well as preference of our client. As the Covid Fit Club has grown, new departments have cropped up and now includes High-Intensity Interval Training, Dance Fitness and Yoga and are currently hosting 28 sessions a week via the online platform. 

The Covid Fit Club classes comes at a cost of Rs. 3000 for 12 sessions. However, as making a profit has never been the aim of Rohan and Akash, the surpluses from the initiative is donated to good causes. These include COVID-19 relief, and mental health and animal welfare organisations – such as ‘Let’s Talk’ founded by TISB student Aaryani, and ‘Animal Ethos’ also started and run by TISB students. As of now the initiative has raised over 5.5 lakhs. More recently Covid Fit Club has also started getting corporate partners, as Rohan explains: “Having been featured in a variety of newspapers, we are extremely fortunate to have partner with ‘RAW Pressery’ as our health partner”. 

Working together as a team remotely on a non-profit start-up is no easy feat. However, not only does Covid Fit Club provide a platform for students to learn and train, but it provides a strong bond and sense of purpose for the team. “It is exciting and engaging and you can connect with your classmates and friends whom you are unable to meet. In addition to keeping mentally and physically fit, Covid Fit Club is a community, bringing together a vast set of children across the world, to train together.”

Click the link to vote for Covid Fit Club for the Onlymyhealth.com ‘Healthcare Heroes Award’.

To join the movement, visit Covid Fit Club’s website.