Better Health at Work silver achievement award

We’re proud to have achieved a silver level Better Health at Work award following a year of campaigns to support the physical and mental wellbeing of our staff.

The Better Health at Work awards encourage employers in the North East to put their colleagues’ health at the core of their values, and demonstrate how they are developing year on year.

There are five levels to the award – bronze, silver, gold, continuing excellence and maintaining excellence, with appropriate criteria at each stage to build into an award portfolio.

The submission was completed by the Beyond Housing ‘health advocates’, a group of colleagues from across the business who are passionate about health and wellbeing and have been instrumental in developing our positive wellbeing culture.

Activities and campaigns cited in the submission included step challenges to encourage colleagues to increase their step count, Samaritans Brew Monday, mindfulness sessions, provision of a free Pilates app, breast cancer awareness month, menopause awareness, financial wellbeing, men’s health, drug and alcohol awareness week and diabetes consultations.

Colleagues, Kelly Lees and Rachel Docherty, who collaborated on the report, were commended by the assessor, who said: “Rachel and Kelly have been amazing to work with, so proactive and enthusiastic about the support work they have been providing within their workplace. This is a great silver application. Congratulations.”

The health advocates group will use the feedback from the report to apply for the Better Health at Work gold award in 2023.

Joanne Morten, Events Assistant at Beyond Housing said: “I have been a health advocate for three years and part of the team since we started out on our journey to achieve the bronze Better Health at Work award in 2019.

“Outside of work, I enjoy spending time outdoors either walking my dogs, horse riding, yoga, and if the weather is good enough, a sea dip! I enjoy encouraging others to find the activity or hobby that will help them to feel better and improve their health and wellbeing, whether that is a 5-minute meditation, a 30-minute walk or a HIIT class.

“Finding something you enjoy and making the time to do it can have a great impact on your mental and physical health and after the challenges we have all faced throughout the pandemic, this is more important than ever.”

Catherine Clennett, Head of HR at Beyond Housing, said: “The past two years have been tough for everyone, so we are delighted that our focus on colleague health and wellbeing has once again been recognised by the Better Health at Work awards.

“We’ve demonstrated a holistic approach to health, offering regular opportunities for people to talk, encouraging mindfulness and relaxation, and supporting national health awareness campaigns. We intend to build on this over the next year.

“Huge thanks to all of our health advocates, who have worked so hard to lead our Better Health at Work initiatives. They are so passionate about improving wellbeing and they have set an amazing example to everyone. I have no doubt that they will submit something very special for our gold award next year.”