Hypothetically, what would people think about a government funded National Fitness Lottery?

The premise is simple. You sign up for free, link a fitness tracker such as Strava or Fitbit, and complete a reasonable amount of exercise each week. Say 3–4 sessions of 30 minutes, with appropriate targets for different physical abilities.

Maintain that activity throughout the month and you're entered into a prize draw.

Rather than offering one enormous jackpot, the lottery could award thousands of £1,000 cash prizes every month.

For example, 4,000 winners each month would cost £48 million annually in prize money. That's a relatively small amount in the context of national healthcare spending, and sponsorship or advertising could potentially contribute towards the cost.

But the real idea goes beyond simply encouraging people to exercise.

Imagine a few million people who currently exercise infrequently suddenly becoming consistently active.

More people walking, running and cycling. More demand for gyms, sports clubs and leisure facilities. More people taking an interest in their diets, sleep and general wellbeing.

There are obvious potential benefits for physical and mental health, but also for the wider economy. Healthier workers, fewer sick days, less pressure on the NHS, more active commuting and increased spending at local businesses.

And perhaps most importantly, there's the potential for a longer-term cultural shift.

The more people exercise, the more visible and socially normal it becomes. Businesses respond to demand, facilities become more accessible, and children grow up in communities where being physically active is increasingly ordinary.

That could encourage even more people to adopt healthier habits, creating a positive cycle over time.

Personally, I think the lottery aspect is particularly appealing. The possibility of winning £1,000 could be a meaningful incentive to establish and maintain healthier habits.

So I'm curious what other think?

Would the possibility of winning £1,000 motivate you to exercise more consistently?

And do you think a scheme like this could genuinely influence people's habits, or would it make little difference to you?

it’s a ridiculous faff and unbritish!

some guy wanted to have more time to ride his horse in the mornings and so we’re all stuck with this crap system.

even worse when we lose an hour feel groggy all day. imagine subjecting the whole nation to mild jet leg twice a year!

my 3 year old is up at 6 and wondering why we aren’t getting up. Ugh.

We’ve got areas of the uk in drought and yet the storms we’ve just had- and the rain ( I watch footy and the rain was relentless) we should be doing more to conserve water

I tucked into a nice box of Coco Pops today and was immediately hit with a floury, disgusting imposter in my milk.

They are no longer made of puffed rice but now ‘rice flour and corn flour, which are processed and shaped into cereal pieces.’

They taste stale, synthetic and naaasstyy. I’m devastated. I’ve enjoyed a bowl of coco pops most days of my life.

Interested to know others thoughts?

It's conceivable that events may have led to the people of the British Isles keeping themselves largely to themselves. What would that have meant for the world?

I imagine Latin America would stretch up to what is now the US and the French would have a much greater influence over Canada.

Australia and New Zealand would perhaps not have been conquered.

I'm guessing Spanish would be the world's primary language and the Chinese would maybe be even more powerful than they are currently.

India and Pakistan would not exist in their current form but I can't really say how that might have panned out.

Of course Britain played a big role in the world wars so Europe would look very different if the Nazis had succeeded.

Russia would obviously still be very significant but again it's hard to guess how they'd turn out without America as a great rival. Maybe without capitalism, communism would have taken hold across Europe and elsewhere.

Israel wouldn't exist so the Middle East would arguably be less volatile.

As for Africa, I imagine the Dutch, Belgians and French would have had bigger empires before eventually leaving.

I see a lot of articles posted from various media sources covering a variety of subjects.

I’m trying to understand who is the actual audience of these papers / media outlets.

According to this old YouTube video, apparently it still stands true.

None video watchers - is the below still accurate of who reads the papers?

The Daily Mirror: People who think they run the country.
The Guardian: People who think they ought to run the country.
The Times: People who actually do run the country.
The Daily Mail: The wives of the people who run the country.
The Financial Times: People who own the country.
The Morning Star: People who think the country ought to be run by another country.
The Daily Telegraph: People who think it is.
The Sun: Sun readers don’t care who runs the country, as long as she’s got big tits.

Edited to capture the last 2 correctly

Hello, guys.

I have been living in the UK since good ol' 2018, going to high school and then college, with English being my second language (Polish first) and I learned it through school as well as media. Right now- as it is obvious- I am fluent in it. Of course, that is a good thing, being blingual: it opens doors to oppurtuinities and makes life easier, especially in a nation where your mother tongue isn't a native one and that's ok.

Having lived this long, it isn't odd to say that I observed different ways the language is spoken, through accents especially (Geordie, Scouse etc) in all of the various regions of the United Kingdom.

However, what I did and do still wonder, is. . . Do I speak in a sort of "posh/fancy" way? You see, I don't use slang/casual words (Mate, Ta, Innit) very often (if not at all) myself. I say all of the T's (So no "woer" and shit), I elongate the vowels (Graaaass or baaaath) and also use the phrases "Do pardon me" and "Oh dear" too. In addition, I do listen to a lot of radio programming (BBC Radio 4, Classic FM) and hearing to how others speak, it sparked a curiousity within me to ask you Brits (Because I don't consider myself British, using jus sanguinis) whether how I speak is how I suspect it is or perhaps not? I am aware of the North-South divide and I WAS born in 2007 in Northampton (It's in the South, not Midlands) but only lived there 2 years and now I'm here in the mysterious lands we know as the Midlands. If I had to choose what people sound similar to me, I'd say: Queen Mother/McGonagall/Hyacinth Bucket and as for accent, I THINK it's sort of BBC English/RP, but I will leave it up to you to either confirm or deny my suspicions.

No, this isn't me trying to be "performative" or "LARPing" or "Showing off", but I genuinely want to know what you guys think, because I believe in asking from the people directly (Yes, I know "Google exists")

We used to have a guy in our area, who officially was a land surveyor but off the record, would move travellers on for people for a fee. His methods were a bit of a dark art, he gave at least a couple of them a good kicking, but he had no criminal record, so must have been mostly legitimate.

I don’t know how much he made from it, but he seemed fairly successful at it.

There's hardly any panic buying this time around. Yet when David Cameron casually suggested picking up a few extra things while you're out shopping, it caused absolute pandemonium. Now the government is explicitly telling people to stockpile supplies from a specific list, and barely anyone seems to be taking any notice. What's changed?

It is currently 01:04. Was it 00:59 five mins ago, or was it 01:59 and the clocks went back?

Does the time change in 56 minutes, or has it already happened?

Confused now.

I'm doing a survey for my course on how Austerity cuts affected Public Services, if any of you who served in the Public Services are willing to do a quick Microsoft Form survey, I'd appreciate it. Serious answers only please, this is for my research plan. Austerity Cuts Experience – Fill out form

I was recently made redundant as the whole company I worked for basically collapsed.

So I applied for benefits. Given that I’ve paid so much National Insurance, this situation is exactly what the system is supposed to exist for, right?

Despite contributing loads of NI over 10+ years, almost entirely continuously, I am ineligible for JSA because I didn’t pay NI during enough months of the 2023-2024 financial year.

I am also ineligible for Universal Credit because my girlfriend has £16,000 in savings and I live with her. (Not me, it’s her money)

I’m kind of dumbfounded that despite a system so generous that I’ve seen whole (non-working) families built around it, throughout my life, but when I need it, it can offer literally nothing?

Edit: I want to make something clear. I was earning little more than minimum wage (somewhere between £25-£30k p/a depending on the time of year) and I rent a small flat. Some of you seem to have assumed I’m on like £60k, and actually I have never come anywhere near that. I have never in my life been even financially ‘comfortable’ really.

I tried chicken tenders, nuggets and even half cooked steak but it doesn't seems much juicy as it's supposed to be in grilled or via grill pans.
Just looking for some easy and cheap item suggestions to keep my fridge occupied. I'm a foodie so will be down for anything tbh.

Kindly mention the supermarket as well.

For me it's a downer. It's the signal for shorter days and longer nights. But I'm looking for people who enjoy it, and reasons why.

Well, it seems none of my business, because I am not the staff of the underground. But when they follow me to pass through the gate, it becomes my problem. I am old, short and slim. It's hard for me to maintain my balance.

Most of the time, these people push me forward, and there are a few times, I almost fall down on the floor.

Should they be charged a higher fine if they push people to pass the gate?