An active workforce is a healthy, happy one
4th November 2011
Active Cumbria the Sport and Physical Activity Partnership are developing a campaign with partner organisations across the county to improve the health and wellbeing of their workforces. Active Workplace is a free project that is open to all organisations in Cumbria. Its aim is to get employees in Cumbria active - before, during or after work. With the average person spending 60% of their waking time at work and an estimated 24% of adults in Cumbrian adults classed as obese, the workplace offers a real opportunity to advocate the benefits of leading an active and healthy lifestyle.
The three main aims of Active Workplace are:
- To increase awareness of the importance of workplace health initiatives
- To promote the benefits of offering physical activity opportunities to employees
- To provide opportunities to organisations to promote to their staff I.e. taster sessions, courses of activities and competitions
In order to achieve this Active Cumbria are looking to identify Active Workplace Champions in as many organisations across the County as possible. Currently these Champions range from Occupational Health Nurses to Human Resource Managers and Communications Officers. Active Cumbria will offer these Ambassadors a whole host of sport and physical opportunities, as well as support and demonstrations for staff.
Who can sign up?
Any organisation can sign up to the project- whether large or small, private, public or voluntary sector. Active Cumbria already has 12 large employers signed up to Active Workplace campaign across Cumbria and are looking for new organisations to reap the benefit of promoting opportunities to their staff.
Why should businesses sign up?
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has estimated that in 2008, 172 million working days were lost due to absence, costing the UK businesses a total of £13 billion. People who are physically active take 27% fewer days off sick! Evidence has shown that physical activity programmes within a workplace can help address this issue. Research has concluded that wellness programmes can impact directly on:
- Sickness and absence
- Staff turnover
- Employee satisfaction
- Company profile
- General health and welfare of employees
- Raised moral and motivation
- Increased competitiveness and profitability
Bruce Lawson, Partnership Manager at Active Cumbria said;
"By helping businesses promote physical activity to their staff we can ultimately maximise benefits to an employer's bottom line, by increasing productivity and creating financial savings."
Active Cumbria, one of 49 County Sports Partnerships across England is core funded by Sport England to increase participation in sport and physical activity. Part of Active Cumbria's core specification is to work with National Governing Bodies (NGBs) of Sport to support their 'Grow' targets increasing the number of participants.
The Active Workplace campaign has promoted a number of different opportunities from Netball to Sailing since it was launched in May this year. Cumbria Golf Partnership are now running their fourth set of six weeks free Golf coaching sessions with a PGA coach due to the high demand.
Callum Irving, North West Relationship Manager for Community Sport at Sport England said;
"The Active Workplace campaign is a great example of how sports can reach a captive audience. This campaign allows sports to target segments of the population who might be very willing to take part in sport but might struggle to be inspired for motivation amongst a busy working schedule. Active Cumbria and Cumbria Golf Partnership have worked together to achieve real success with the Active Workplace campaign showing there is a latent demand for physical activity but perhaps lack of knowledge.
This scheme as it continues to grow will enable more employees and more employers to contribute to the health and well being of their workforce as well as all the social, cultural and team building benefits taking part in sport offers. It is great for sport, great for employers and great for the county"
Jane Robinson, County Development Officer at Cumbria Golf Partnership said;
"Active Cumbria has been a great asset to us in advertising our free golf sessions to local businesses and organisations throughout Cumbria. We have seen a great increase in the number of people registering for our golf sessions and Active Cumbria has been instrumental in our success."
As well as growing the number of organisations signing up to Active Workplace, Active Cumbria is working with more physical activity providers including the Leisure Facility Operators to further develop the menu of opportunities offered to workplaces.
Richard Foster, Community Strategy and Development Manager at Lakes Leisure said;
"Lakes Leisure as well as the other Leisure Facility Operators are delighted to have the opportunity to become involved in the Active Workplace campaign and can see a real potential in linking up with businesses across the county to see the value in an active and healthy workforce. The leisure facilities in Cumbria have a lot to offer the general public and are looking specifically to tailor sessions or activities that might make them more accessible to the local workforce."
If you are a possible champion for sport and physical activity in your business or know who is and would like to learn more about the resources available through the Active Workplace campaign then get in touch with Emma Martin or alternatively check out the Active Workplace webpage
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