Supporting healthy, happy, and engaged employees can be as easy as a walk in the park. Scotland’s walking charity, Paths for All, are offering workplaces a unique way to enhance staff wellbeing by getting employees to move more throughout the working day as part of a fun walking challenge.
Paths for All are welcoming teams of five to sign up to the spring Step Count Challenge, which kicks off on Monday, 29th April. The challenge, which runs for eight exciting weeks, encourages teams to explore and enjoy new ways of getting active throughout the day, whilst recording their daily step count activity through a bespoke team tracker.
Some is good, more is better. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that 150 minutes of moderate physical activity a week can boost physical and mental wellbeing. At just over 20 minutes of movement a day, everyday workplace walking can help you achieve that goal.
How will taking part do wonders for the wellbeing of your team?
Regular physical activity has been found to significantly reduce depression, anxiety, and stress. With employers keen to evolve their workplaces in positive ways post-pandemic, moving more has gained considerable traction for its contribution to a flexible and active work life balance. The National Attitudes Survey, commissioned by Paths for All in 2023, highlighted that 77% of adults say that walking clears their head and helps them concentrate, and 80% state that walking helps them relax. Studies suggest that a physically active workforce can be less stressed and take 27% fewer sick days per year. The correlation is simple – improved wellbeing, happier staff, a boost in productivity and increased staff retention.
The attitudes survey also found that over 4-in-5 Scottish adults are prepared to walk the distance to a public transport link and local greenspaces. With a focus on encouraging participants to ditch the car, travel actively to and from work, and to connect with the natural world, our Step Count Challenge is the ideal way to inspire behaviour change within your team, continue this trend whilst boosting your daily step count. Choosing to make short active journeys as part of a commute or lunchtime walk can supercharge your day, offers valuable space between home and work to plan your schedule or to enjoy invaluable time to decompress and relax during busy or stressful hours of the day.
The Step Count Challenge is driven by weekly themes, centred around physical and mental health, connecting with your colleagues, local community, and the natural environment. Mini challenges and weekly email updates offer opportunities to try out new active working approaches which encourage social connections between staff, outside of the day-to-day workload. And if the challenge encourages more journeys by foot and less by car, your team can feel good about reducing your company’s carbon footprint.
Previous research undertaken by a Dr Ailsa Niven at the Physical Activity for Health Research Centre (PAHRC) (University of Edinburgh) and team of experts found that taking part in the Step Count Challenge boosted daily activity by approximately 1,000 steps, equivalent to an additional 60 minutes of extra walking a week.
Reducing sedentary behaviours does not need to rely on the sole act of walking, however. Opting for active meetings, phone calls on the go and standing desks are positive steps to increasing physical activity and your daily step count. In turn, being active more often creates safe, active spaces to stimulate idea generation, debate, and aid planning amongst staff.
Learn more and sign up now at
www.stepcount.org.uk.
