University of Bolton
The University of Bolton employs 660 staff, of whom around
80% are over the age of 40.
Programme background
Pozz Lonsdale, Manager of the Sports Centre at the University of
Bolton , found that many staff were reluctant to make use of the
classes and facilities provided for students, and decided that a
dedicated programme of staff activities was needed. In 2005, Pozz
got together with the University's HR department and submitted a
bid to the Sport England Lottery Fund £1 Million Challenge, a fund
dedicated to encouraging workers in the north west to become more
active. The University was awarded a grant of £50,000 to put their
plans into practice over the following three years.
Getting started
Using guidance from the British Heart Foundation's Think
fit! pack, Pozz and her colleague Mollie Percival launched
their initiative in 2006. At the launch, a healthy lunch was
provided and staff were invited to ‘sign up to the Challenge' by
completing questionnaires to determine whether they were ‘red'
(currently inactive), ‘amber' (active but would like to do more),
or green (very active). Feedback from the questionnaire made it
possible to ensure that the subsequent activity programme included
elements that appealed to staff at all levels of activity and
confidence.
“When we set up the scheme, we used a traffic light system
so that people could identify themselves as red, amber or green. It
encouraged people who weren't active to start with to see that we
were interested in them as well as the super-fit
.”
Pozz Lonsdale,
Sports Centre Manager, University of Bolton
Strategies used
Participation was encouraged by using a very friendly,
light-hearted approach in promotional material and by offering a
pack of freebies (sports towel, pedometer and T-shirts) and a
health assessment to all those who signed up. This approach seemed
to work well: over 100 employees signed up at the launch and by the
following summer over 200 staff were participating in the
programme. Staff on the resulting email list were offered the
chance to ‘have a go' at a wide range of activities including
boxercise, mountain biking, trampolining, spinning, snowboarding,
horse-riding and pilates. Some classes are run at lunchtimes and
others after work, to suit the needs of different lifestyles. A
nominal charge is made for all activities, and the organisers feel
that this is vital to securing commitment. Classes are run on a
termly basis, and are very actively promoted. It was found that
using an informal tone in publicity materials encourages a much
wider range of participants: spinning classes are described as
‘Bums on bikes', trampolining is promoted as ‘Bounce your way to a
better bod', and potential participants are advised that ‘No
experience is necessary. Just bring a drink, a towel, and a
smile.'
With the mountain biking activity, there is an easier ‘look at
the scenery' group and a more advanced group which covers a more
challenging terrain. On average about 12 riders take part each
week, but not always the same 12. Several people who started off
hiring a bike now have their own bike and ride into work every day.
Maps with local bike rides are provided, including easy rides that
are suitable for children in case employees want to go cycling with
their families. Ongoing participation in the scheme is encouraged
by maintaining personal contact with individual employees and
offering regular health checks (blood pressure, weight, etc) to
enable them to monitor their progress. Introducing an element of
competition has also helped: £10 prizes are given to the most
active individual (male and female) each month, and to the
department containing the highest number of ‘active' employees.
Regular slide shows and displays of classes and outings are
organised and non-participants are invited to ‘see what they have
missed'. Informal advocates in each department spread the word to
their colleagues, and all new employees are encouraged to sign up
to the challenge, which includes half-price gym membership.
Employee benefits
Staff are extremely enthusiastic about the scheme, and several
have achieved significant health gains such as reduced blood
pressure and/or significant weight loss.
“We've got a couple of people who were very overweight and
on high blood pressure medication, and now they're on virtually no
medication, and one of them has lost about 3 stone. We take a very
relaxed approach – people just come in and go, ‘Can you do my blood
pressure again?'”
Pozz Lonsdale,
Sports Centre Manager, University of Bolton
“My son is nearly 10 and he's just starting to get into
cricket and he said, ‘Come on dad, bowl me some balls' but I found
I just couldn't do it because I was too stiff and I thought ‘I've
got to start doing something'…so I took up the yoga and pilates
thing here and that has really improved the mobility in my
joints.”
Staff member, University of
Bolton
“There's an awful lot of laughter…you'll hear us grunting
and groaning when we're doing the classes. But it's not just about
keeping fit. It's a social activity as well.”
Staff member, University of
Bolton
“It's quite hard to motivate yourself at the end of the day,
but my colleague Diane and I have both decided we'll do the gym so
there is like that side of it as well, like a gym buddy; we
encourage each other to go. And afterwards you feel really good and
de-stressed; it's so worth the effort.”
Staff member, University of
Bolton
Return on investment
Since the introduction of the scheme in May 2006, sickness
absence rates have dropped from an average of 11.67 days' absence
per person per year to 8.38 days per person, and the figures show
that staff signed up to the scheme are significantly less likely to
take sick leave than those who are not. Staff in the most active
‘green' category (several of whom started off as ‘reds') have had
no long-term sickness absence or any sickness absence related to
mental health reasons during the first year of the project.
“While it is too early to say categorically, I think our
sickness absence figures have decreased due to the introduction of
the challenge. They suggest that participation in physical activity
at work is beneficial to both physical and mental well
being.”
Shirley Silcock, HR Community Officer,
University of Bolton