A campaign aiming to increase the level of physical activity of a thousand Newcastle Hospitals staff is being supported by Newcastle Hospitals Charity.
The ‘One Small Step to Greater Fitness’ physical health challenge is getting participants to cover the distance between Lands’ End and John o’ Groats – 874 miles.
Running for six months until the start of this November, the staff are taking part using a Trust branded app, encouraging team work and friendly competition for peer motivation.
Participants can walk or run at varying levels of fitness and ability level.
The campaign is addressing four key elements – physical health, mental health and wellbeing, cost of living and the climate crisis.
A Health Needs Assessment last summer found nearly a fifth of respondents met UK Government guidelines for physical activity, while more than three fifths felt overweight.
63% said they would welcome workplace wellbeing initiatives.
Steven Hewitt, Health Improvement Practitioner Advanced and co-chair of the ENABLED staff network at Newcastle Hospitals, said: “We are truly fortunate that Newcastle Hospital Charity are backing our ‘One Small Step to Greater Fitness’ physical health challenge.
“The campaign sees us covering the distance from Land’s End to John O’Groats, which is 874 miles, with the campaign finishing on November 1st.
“A tree is planted on behalf of every individual at 20%, 40%, 60% & 80% of their challenge (totalling four trees by the time they reach the finish line!).
“When individuals reach 50% of their challenge, a meal is donated to someone in need through End to End Run’s community outreach projects.”
Steven has thanked Newcastle Hospitals Charity for supporting the campaign, adding: “We would not be able to do this campaign without the continued support of Newcastle Hospitals Charity, their commitment to supporting our workforce’s Health and Wellbeing is nothing short of amazing.”
Your donations make supporting campaigns like this possible – to donate to Newcastle Hospitals Charity, please head to our make a donation section of our website.
