THE CHALLENGE

As part of Liverpool City Council (LCC) and NHS Liverpool CCG’s (LCCG) Active City Strategy, the city’s vision is for Liverpool to be the most active core city in England by 2021.

However, 46% of working adults in the city don’t meet the minimum physical activity guidelines (doing less than 150 minutes moderate physical activity per week). It’s also recognised that an average employee spends up to 60% of their waking hours at work, often spending most of their day sedentary at a desk or driving a vehicle as part of an inactive workplace culture.

However, 46% of working adults in the city don’t meet the minimum physical activity guidelines (doing less than 150 minutes moderate physical activity per week). It’s also recognised that an average employee spends up to 60% of their waking hours at work, often spending most of their day sedentary at a desk or driving a vehicle as part of an inactive workplace culture.

PARTICIPANT FOCUS

“I used to be a complete couch potato – my daily routine would consist of getting up, driving to work then sitting behind my desk all day. I wanted to get more active and lose weight, so I signed up to the step challenge because it didn’t mean that I had to join a gym. I started off by going for a walk on my dinnertime, then planned a route for when I got home from work – I was amazed to see that I was clocking up between 10,000 and 15,000 steps each day, and seeing myself near the top of the leaderboard spurred me on to doing even more. I feel so much better in myself, I’ve started running and I have dropped two dress sizes! We all noticed as a team how you are far more alert and productive in the afternoon after going out for a walk instead of sitting at your desk.”

Gill, Mersey Care

“I used to be a complete couch potato – my daily routine would consist of getting up, driving to work then sitting behind my desk all day…
I signed up because I thought that it was achievable with the challenge just being steps…Some team members and I started to go around Sefton Park on a walk at dinner time.
We all noticed as a team how you are far more alert and productive in the afternoon after going out for a walk instead of sitting at your desk.”

The Women’s Organisation

“Our office culture used to be very sedentary, spending little time on our feet… but signing up to Liverpool Active Workplaces and joining the Step Challenge really changed the game for us.

Our staff were all given pedometers to use, and the challenge dominated conversations from then on! Going on walking meetings, lunchtime walks and colleagues parking their cars a few roads away has now become the daily routine – as an organisation we are now very much more movement focused and make an effort to incorporate it into our day.

Two of our colleagues were trained up as Physical Activity Champions, and they helped to spread moral … We were also fortunate to be awarded a grant to pilot some workplace activity sessions plus buy some exercise equipment – because of this, staff have experienced activities that they wouldn’t have taken up otherwise…

Taking part in the programme has made a definite improvement to communication, and fitness is a hot topic in the office now.”