Asics has partnered mental health charity Mind to transform the streets of Retford in Nottinghamshire into a movement-inspired gym in an attempt to lift the mood of the town.
Following nationwide research into the mood of the nation, the Asics state-of-mind index identified Nottinghamshire as the English county where people rated their mental state as the lowest, with 80% wanting a mental uplift.
Retford residents were most motivated to improve their emotional and mental wellbeing. The index was commissioned by Asics and carried out by BF Media in May. The sample comprised 6,474 adults from 40 English counties, with a minimum of 150 respondents from each.
On 25 September, residents of the town, which has a population of 22,000, will be invited to take part in a series of movement initiatives and measure the collective impact on their mental wellbeing. There will be a variety of exercise pop-ups designed to help get the residents of Retford moving.
To quantify the "uplift", residents will use the Asics "Mind uplifter tool" to measure their state of mind before and after taking part in an exercise circuit designed to last about 20 minutes. The tool enables people to chart the positive impact of sport across 10 emotional and cognitive metrics, showing how different sports boost how they think and feel.
Once a participant has registered a "Mind uplift" via the tool, their individual data will be combined with others' results in order to demonstrate the uplift that movement can have on the mood of the whole town. Every participant who captures a "Mind uplift" on the day will raise funds for Mind.
Movement and mental health expert Dr Brendon Stubbs is overseeing the experiment, having helped design the day of events.
Gary Raucher, executive vice-president at Asics, said: "The last 18 months have been tough on people's mental wellbeing, but we know exercise can be a positive source of energy. Asics has always believed that exercise is not only good for the body, but also for the mind.
"Now, we aim to demonstrate our brand belief in action by seeing if movement can uplift the mood of a whole town. We hope residents of Retford will lace up and be part of this unique experiment to raise spirits and raise funds for Mind."
Asics is on a mission to "uplift one million minds across the world" and will be hosting a series of uplifting minds events across the year to encourage wider participation.
Data collected from users of the "Mind uplifter tool" will feed into a live global study that will generate an interactive "World uplift map". The map will quantify the positive impact that sport is having on the collective mood of cities and the world as a whole.