Summary
- Wesport signed up to Workplace Movement back in February this year and had plans to engage with the local business community using the platform. With the situation of lockdown, we had to rethink of ways we could continue this work.
- Wesport decided to offer a free webinar for all employees; 'Physical Activity for Good Mental Health', exploring why being physically active throughout our working day is important and how it can positively impact our mental wellbeing. We explore the issue of stress, the impact of sedentary behaviour and the importance of the 5 Ways toWellbeing.
- Over the past 3 months, we have run 2 open and 3 closed webinars and were invited to be part of a Business West panel on Mental Health in the workplace
- Over 250 attendees from 88 different organisations, including employees from Local Authorities, the NHS, housing associations and the financial sector have attended the Physical Activity for Good Mental Health’ workshop as a virtual webinar.
Insight
- We wanted to support both employers and employees understand the importance of physical activity during this period of remote working.
- A nationwide focus on taking daily exercise paired with concerns about people's mental health has brought the connect between the two ever greater.
- Physical activity programmes at work have been found to reduce absenteeism by up to 20% and we know the main 2 reasons for time off work are musculoskeletal issues and stress – both of which being physically active can support.
- 62% of adults think it is more important to be active during the outbreak compared to other times. 69% of adults agree that exercise is helping them manage their physical health. 65% agree it is helping them manage their mental health.
Detail
Wesport signed up to Workplace Movement back in February this year and had plans to engage with the local business community using the platform. With the situation of lockdown, we had to rethink of ways we could continue this work.
In light of more people than ever remotely working and also the concerns around Mental Health, we decided to run the ‘Physical Activity for Good Mental Health’ workshop as a virtual webinar. The webinar explores why being physically active throughout our working day is important and how it can positively impact our mental wellbeing. We explore the issue of stress, the impact of sedentary behaviour and the importance of the 5 Ways to Wellbeing.
Working with Matt Liggins who leads on Workplace Movement for Active Partnerships, Lisa Wood from Wesport condensed the content down to 1 hour as felt this was the maximum time for an online webinar. We ensured it contained some interactive element too via the quiz and ensured there was opportunity for attendees to share their tips for staying active. Participants were also signposted them to Workplace Movement which is currently free to access and other local support options.
The webinar was promoted via Wesport main communication channels: local Chamber of Commerce, our Local Authority business teams, our own business distribution list and social media channels plus the local VCSE sector routes. We had over 90 people sign up in advance and 55 attend on the day. As this was so popular we then ran another 4 weeks later.
2 of our Local Authority Health and Wellbeing leads also asked us to run workshops open to all their council staff where we engage a further 80 employees. I was also asked to be part of a Business West webinar on Mental Health in the workplace to talk about physical activity alongside an HR professional and Mental Health speaker.
After a conversation with our local DfT Access programme Travelwest (remit for promoting active travel), they offered their small grants scheme of £250 to be used for any Bristol based business to pay for a closed workshop for their staff. We went out with this offer and have engaged a further 4 businesses this way and generated some income.
We have informed all the Local Authorities of the success of these webinars by sharing an infographic and hope to be able to engage further connected to the Mental Health agenda.
Quotes from recent attendees:
'It was a wake up call, to proactively put some exercise into my daily planner'
"I liked the analogy of a bucket and how we need to find ways of emptying it, and to be aware that the body's response to stress is to release hormones in the muscles that needs to be used up. The 5 ways to improve well being was really good - I hadn't really considered how good it makes you feel when you give, and how connection reaffirms our sense of worth really resonated with me. I thought it was really well balanced. Thank you!"
To view an Infographic of the Wesport Work please click here
For more details about Workplace Movementand how to get involved please contact Matt Liggins mliggins@activepartnerships.org