Looking to meet new people, get more active, or just find something fun to do in your local area? Active Locals connects you with recurring local communities, run clubs, wellness groups, social sports, hiking crews, weekly meetups, so you can find your people and keep showing up.
Here's everything you need to know to get started, from signing up through to booking your first event.
Signing up
Getting set up takes less than five minutes.
- Open the Active Locals app and enter your email address.
- Fill in your details, your first name, surname, and a secure password that meets the password criteria.
- Check your inbox for a verification code, which we'll send straight to your email, and enter it in the app.
- Press continue, then accept the terms and conditions.
- Choose Join Events to let us know you're here to attend, not organise (don't worry, you can always become an organiser later too).
- Enter your postcode so we can find events happening near you.
- Select the categories that interest you, think socialising, connecting, dinner meetups, fitness, or whatever else catches your eye. The more you select, the better we can match you with things you'll actually enjoy.
- Press continue and enter your age, selecting the year and then the month.
- Press continue, select your gender, and press continue again.
And that's it, you're in. From here, you can start browsing groups on the app that match your interests.
Understanding groups and events
Before you start booking things in, it helps to know how Active Locals is structured.A group is an ongoing community built around a shared activity or interest. An event is a specific session hosted by that group.For example, a weekly running club is the group, and Tuesday night's run is the event. Joining a group means you stay connected between sessions and get notified whenever a new event is published, so you never miss out on what's coming up next.
Joining a group
Once you've found a group that looks like your kind of thing, joining is simple, no approval needed. Just hit join and you're part of the community, ready to see their upcoming events and get notified when new ones are posted.Look for groups that are active and verified, these tend to be the most reliable and well-run communities on the app, with regular events and engaged organisers.
Booking an event
Found something you like the look of? Here's what to check before you book:
- The date, time, and location
- What you should bring or expect on the day
- Whether there's a fitness or experience level to be aware of
- Ticket information, some events are free, others are paid
If it's a paid event, payment is processed securely through Stripe, you can pay with card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay, and you'll be charged the ticket price plus a small $1 booking fee.Some groups also run recurring events, like every Tuesday evening or the first Sunday of the month. You can book into individual sessions as they suit you, no need to commit to the whole series.
Changing your mind
Plans change, and that's okay. If you need to cancel a booking:
- More than 24 hours before the event: you'll get an automatic refund on the ticket price (the booking fee isn't refundable)
- Less than 24 hours before: you can still cancel your attendance, but you won't be eligible for a refund
- After the event: if something went wrong, you can request a refund within 14 days, and our team will review it
If the organiser cancels the event, you'll generally receive a full refund automatically, back to your original payment method.
Staying connected
Right now, organisers can send you updates about an event, think meeting point changes, weather updates, or last-minute reminders, directly through the event page, and you may get a push notification if you've got them enabled. It's currently a one-way update from organiser to attendee, but we're building out fuller in-app messaging soon, including group chat and direct messaging, so you can connect with your community even more easily.
Leaving a rating
After you've attended an event, you'll be asked to leave a 5-star rating. This helps other people in your area find great groups and reliable organisers, and it's a small way of supporting the organisers who are putting in the work to bring your community together.
Ready to find your people?
Whether you're after a weekly sweat session, a new social circle, or just an excuse to get outside more, your local community is probably already on Active Locals.