We all go through phases of trying to make healthy choices, exercising more, maybe reducing the amount we smoke or drink, but sometimes we can lack motivation and with the best will in the world, we don’t always manage to keep it up. We have created the perfect opportunity for people who may wish to make healthier lifestyle choices and have a bit of fun along the way! 

What’s it all about?

For those who want to feel the healthiest they can, we have created a challenge to raise awareness of well-being and to create a way for us to feel motivated to stick to what each person thinks they can achieve. It’s also a great opportunity to work together as a team and try out new things together!

Throw yourself into it! Whilst we do want to raise awareness and improve well-being, we also want people to enjoy it, have some fun, for teams to bond, create some cross-site competition and for you to share your stories!  “David, tell us more about your flamenco classes!”

How does it work?

So what do you need to do?

1. Talk to your colleagues and rope in some like-minded people who also want to improve their well-being and who like a challenge.
2. Together form a team (up to 6 people) and give yourselves a name – a good strong “we are going to win this competition together!” team name. Think “Gladiators Get Fit”, “Heroes for Happiness”, “Well-being Wizards”.
3. What comes next? During the first week of January, you each complete the NHS One You quiz. It’s quick and simple and as you go through it, it will ask you about not only your physical well-being but your mental well-being too. That’s why we like it – well-being is so much more than just exercise and diet.
4. Make a note of your One You quiz score, which will be out of 10.
5. So now comes the exciting bit but you might want to put a bit of thought into it. Each person in the team comes up with up to 5 ‘pledges’ of things they want to change to improve their overall well-being. At the end of the quiz, you will see lots of tips and guidance on things you could improve, which are tailored to the answers you gave in the quiz (so it’s important that you complete it honestly – we really don’t mind if you like a sherry or two on a Sunday afternoon (as long as you are not on shift!) it’s more important that you are honest. The results will help you identify which areas you can focus on and we can help with this too! We have lots of ideas for you and where you can find tips and guidance.
6. You then have 8 glorious weeks to stick to your pledges and make some positive changes to your well-being. It’s as simple as ABC, 123, E=MC2 … erm… Tell us all about it! What exciting things have you and your team been up to? Let’s get the competition fired up! Are the Westbury Warriors, ready to take on the Sandford Smilers? Which team will win?
7. After your 8 weeks of healthy snacks, wonderful walks and a team trip to Rave-Fit (or whatever tickles your fancy), you each re-do the One You quiz, tell us your score and the team who have made the greatest collective improvement wins a prize!

Remind me where I find the One You quiz?

The quiz can be found here.  Even if you are not taking part in the challenge, you can still take the quiz and learn about your own well-being and things you could change.

What sort of things could I change?

• How about doing something creative – this can improve your mood and self-esteem – bake a cake – unless you are like me and are a disaster in the kitchen! Knit a scarf, take up a new hobby – now’s the time to try something different and stimulating.
• Eat food that helps boost your health and your mood – what we eat and drink can have a big influence on our mood so look out for healthy food options.
• Keep in touch with friends and loved ones more – find activities to do with friends and family, take a walk, ride a bike, even go for a tea or coffee with friends.
• Keep physically active – not only can it help lose weight, it’s also proven to lower stress and anxiety – 30 minutes of exercise helps a lot – mix up the type you do e.g. jogging, yoga, badminton, dog walking.
• Get involved with local events and make a contribution – being involved in fun events can help you learn new skills, meet new people and also get a sense of fulfilment.
• Take a break – work better, not harder – take your annual leave evenly throughout the year to help you take a break when you need it. Ask for help when you need it.
• Pay it forward – do nice things for others, random acts of kindness. Get that warm fuzzy feeling from helping others.
• Take time to reflect on things you have done and things you could do. But don’t dwell too much on the past.
• Go to bed earlier – did you know Einstein supposedly slept 10 hours a night?
• Do things that make you laugh – read, listen or watch something funny.

Where can I find tips and guidance?

www.wearesmt.co.uk is our own site, which is full of useful information about health and well-being and has lots of links to video clips, interesting blogs and where to get further help.  Whilst you are here, have a browse!

Our employee assistance program features not only a confidential telephone helpline but a website jam packed full of useful articles, research and tool kits to help you with a range of health and lifestyle topics https://myemployeecare.lifeworks.com/feed (user name 72221 and password employeecare)

The NHS have their own site too, which makes it easy to find information on eating well, weight, exercise, sleep and tiredness and their Mood Zone, which focuses on your emotional well-being https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/.

If there is something specific or you can’t quite put your finger on what it is that you want, come and talk to us and we can point you in the right direction.

Who are the winners?

After 8 weeks, which will fly past given all the exciting things you will have been doing, we’ll ask you to retake the One You quiz and we’ll see all your scores go up! The team with the biggest overall average improvement but also who have been the most enthusiastic during the competition will win a team prize. So it’s not just about the score – we want to hear how you’re getting on all the way through – with your permission we’ll share your stories and progress on social media to help encourage others but if you’d rather not share on social media that’s fine too – we still want to hear how you’re doing.

This sounds great, I can’t wait! Where do I register?

Talk to your colleagues now and form a team, then email/call wendy.obrien@stmonicatrust.org.uk / 07779 431549 or clare.gorvett@stmonicatrust.org.uk / 07970 912534 to let us know your team name, who is in your team and we can send you all an agreement to read through and sign, which can also be found by clicking here. You can then take it easy, enjoy the festive season, eat, drink and be merry and ready to start the challenge in January!  

The Well-Being Challenge … the Guinea pigs…

Before we were let loose on all our colleagues across the Trust we “encouraged” some of the HR team to trial a mini well-being challenge (sadly without the prizes… thank you team!) to see how it went. Here are some of the things that happened…

The HR team were split into “The Well-Being Warriors” and “Hale and Hearty”; we completed the quiz and made our pledges.

There were a range of different pledges, some team members wanted to drink more water, less alcohol and to eat more fruit. Some wanted to get fitter and do more exercise, go for walks at lunchtime and join the gym.  Others wanted to focus on not taking on the worries of the world and only focussing on things they could influence. 

Some team members baked healthy oat and fruit based, treats for their team… Went for walks at lunch and enjoyed the beautiful grounds…

Switched their unhealthy snacks for more healthy ones to create balance (not quite willing to give up treats altogether – is that a flapjack lurking?!)… And some tried to sabotage the other team’s efforts by bringing in biscuits hoping they would cave in!!!  Outrageous!

There were some far more positive cross-team efforts going on with a member of Hale and Hearty joining the Cote Lane gym with a Well-Being Warrior and challenging them to a race. How far could they each go on the bike and treadmill in 10 minutes…  But who won?!

All in all, much fun was had and we learned lots about things we could change and what we found more challenging. As a team, it created much conversation and it certainly helped to keep us on the straight and narrow (mostly).  Hopefully, we will continue and as a result see some improvement to our health and general well-being.

Now it’s your turn…