Online keep fit sessions, knitting classes, baking, gardening and virtual tea breaks, these are just a few of the activities organised by our Health and Wellbeing Champions to support staff during lockdown.
Pictured above and below: some of our Wellbeing Champions on a Teams call
The group was formed in 2018 when the Health, Safety and Risk Directorate asked for volunteers to champion health and wellbeing within their services/faculties. There are now 27 champions who promote events and campaigns and act as a key point of contact for local queries.
Felice Foscheri, from Catering, teamed up with a colleague to create a WhatsApp group. He says:
“Some of the team are still working on site to support the remaining students in Connaught Hall. The WhatsApp group enables staff to check in daily to see how their colleagues are coping and also share photos and ideas of what they have been up to.
“Colleagues have been baking, gardening, painting, playing games and sharing other achievements and I’ve even introduced an online keep fit class for the team!”
Felice runs online keep fit classes from his home
Moira Maclean, from the School of Ocean and Earth Sciences, explains how she transferred her support online which now includes a wellbeing and community Teams site:
“Most people are using the Teams site to post interesting and fun things they find on the internet, such as book reviews, online entertainment, webcams of animals and mindfulness resources.
“We also run virtual coffee breaks which are especially well received by those who are living alone. I normally attend a knitting club on a Thursday, so I transferred it online, encouraging others who have their own groups to do the same.”
Rachel Tucker from RIS says their department teams have daily virtual catch-ups:
“We set up a ‘RIS kitchen chat’ at 2.30pm every day. Anyone from the department can drop in, it’s as though you were making a cuppa in the office kitchen. It’s a way to chat to members, other than your direct team.
“The Research Funding Development team meet daily wearing a themed outfit of the day. The theme is chosen by the first person to correctly answer a question the day before. Themes to date have been: film character/green/the ocean and have led to some pretty out-of-the-box outfits!”
If you’d like to find out more about health and wellbeing in your area please email [email protected]. The Health and Wellbeing team provide a range of advice for staff including team resilience, guidance for vulnerable adults, setting up your home workstation and maintaining positive wellbeing whilst working from home.
