Case Studies

WPH staff working out in the new staff gym.

Funding from Sport England enabled Healthy Living Wessex to work directly with Weymouth and Portland Housing and Dorset County Council, helping them to improve the physical and mental well-being of their workforce. We believe that the success of the project has largely been down to the recruitment of 'Workplace Health Champions'.

Weymouth & Portland Housing Company

Thanks to funding from Sport England, Healthy Living Wessex were able to work with Weymouth & Portland Housing Company (140 staff) as part of a Health at Work pilot study. The work started in 2006 and 2 years later, the project has been a resounding success. So much so, that in the first year, we helped reduce sickness absences due to stress and depression by 50% and it is estimated that the resulting improved health of the staff saved the company £30,000.

In the first instance we recruited and trained a voluntary team of "Health Champions" and their enthusiasm and commitment has enabled a fantastic range of initiatives were able to take place and are still on-going.

• Healthy tuck box as an alternative to vending machines with chocolate and crisps
• Set up a small gym
• Created a relaxation suite with beautiful sofas, a great ambience and wonderful peace and quiet, allowing staff to have some "timeout" when they need it
• Activity taster sessions for pilates, belly dancing, line dancing and Fitball
• Colourful health information posters throughout the workplace
• 2 bikes for staff to use and they are encouraged to use them for local meetings
• Cholesterol screening, blood pressure checks and personal lifestyle consultations

WPH staff trying out a Pilates taster session.

Kevin Day, Managing Director Weymouth and Portland Housing said: "it really makes sense to invest in the health and well-being of staff; ultimately you both get a return on the investment. After working with Healthy Living Wessex, we reckon we've saved the equivalent of £30,000 in staff time and the staff were buzzing with energy."

Dorset County Council

Since we started working with the Resources Directorate of 700 staff in January 2008, the project has gone from strength to strength. Again, the first task we undertook was getting a group of enthusiastic Health Champions together, and empowering them to come up with a range of initiatives which they felt would inspire the staff to take care of their health.

Very soon after the start of the project, we helped the staff to arrange a series of activity taster sessions, including salsa, kickboxing and Tai Chi. As well as introducing staff to different types of activities, the focus was also on encouraging staff to leave their desk at lunchtime, something which can dramatically improve productivity.

To help staff who prefer more of a sporting element to their exercise, we helped the health champions to organise a 5-a-side football league which takes place once a week in the evening and a rounders tournament, which happened in the summer. Also in the summer, we worked with the staff to promote a "Get outdoors, Get Active" campaign, which encouraged staff to make the most of the great outdoors through local lunchtime walks in the countryside, scuba diving and paintballing.

The group also wanted to do something a little different around improving well-being, so, as part of national sleep week, they arranged a bed event which cleverly linked together practical information about anxiety management and getting a good night's sleep.

After only a short period of time, the rest of the Council staff asked to be part of the project which is testament to the success of the work. The project now incorporates 14,000 Council staff. This project is currently being evaluated and we are sure it will have had a significant impact on the health of staff.