OPEN Health wellness week

Last month OPEN Health held a week-long event for all staff in its UK offices. This event – aptly named ‘Wellness Week’ - ran from the 14th to 18th November. During the week OPEN Health offered a variety of activities to its staff, to promote the importance of wellness and a work-life balance. 

The activities included social breakfast clubs, smoothie-bike madness, wonder walks, Wii-fit games, first aid demos, allotment digging, massage therapy, desk assessments, a pool tournament, craft club, book swap, dance classes, health assessments, boot camp, a quiz night and much more! 

The Earthworks (an OPEN Health company) crew 'work' the smoothie bike to produce their own fruity pick-me-up

Dan Squirrell (Associate Market Access Consultant, OPEN Access Conuslting, an OPEN Health company), a member of St. Johns Ambulance, passes on some all important training to his OPEN Health colleagues

Some of the pH Associates (an OPEN Health company) ladies having 'pHun' and keeping 'pHit' on their lunch break, by digging up their dinner in the pH Allotment 

Craft Club well under way in The Weighbridge office in Marlow

Taking advantage of the book swap

There were also some great competitions; specifically the Turbo Trainer in Marlow, which ended up being very well-attended, with some coming back for a second go! Emma Cuckson (Research Manager, The EarthWorks insights, an OPEN Health company) and Matt Rowley (Account Executive, The EarthWorks insights, an OPEN Health company) both returned with a glint in their eyes and real determination to take the top spots. 

Jacqui Antioco (Operations Assistant, OPEN Health) gives it her all on the Turbo Trainer

Matt was successful in improving his score and reclaimed bragging rights over his father David Rowley (CEO, OPEN Health), however it was just not enough to topple Ben Hallowes (Senior Digital Designer, The EarthWorks, an OPEN Health company) who remained the winner for the males.

As for Emma, she claimed the top spot after her second attempt with an epic score of 662, although this was short lived, as Harriet Dakin (Associate Market Access Consultant, OPEN Access Consulting, an OPEN Health company) caught wind of this on the grapevine and returned 15 minutes later to reclaim her original top spot with a score of 672. So close Emma! 

Congratulations Ben and Harriet who kept the lead and both won a £100 voucher for Red Letter Days. 

Ben Hallowes (Senior Digital Designer, The EarthWorks, an OPEN Health company) and Harriet Dakin (Associate Market Access Consultant, OPEN Access Consulting, an OPEN Health company) have their winning faces on!

Over in London, Campbell Robinson (Senior Art Director, LEC London, an OPEN Health company) and Reshma Halai (Traffic Manager, LEC London, an OPEN Health company) organised a wonder-walk around Holborn, encouraging colleagues to take in the otherwise overlooked sights and turn their hand to photography in their lunchbreak using coloured balloons as props. Campbell gave out his top five tips, and the challenge was on as to who could take the best snap. It was a big success and definitely pointed out some inspiring sights in the local area, as well as encouraging the team to walk an extra 5500 steps in the day. The finished photos were fantastic!

A selection of the brilliant photos from the Holborn #OHWellnessWeek wonder-walk

OPEN Health colleagues were also encouraged to take care of themselves by signing up to the AXA PPP Health Gateway, and then filling in a survey which determined their health age along with more hints and tips to reduce or maintain this age. There was also a prize draw to win a fancy new Fitbit, open to every person who completed the survey and answered a wellness related question. Congratulations to Lisa Townshend (Editor, Succinct Medical Communications, an OPEN Health company) who only started a few weeks before and won the Fitbit! What a great start to healthy lifestyle and New Year.

Throughout all the fun, healthy eating and exercise, there were also daily email updates full of useful wellness tips and hints. These emails were to encourage small changes, which would in turn make a big impact on OPEN Health employee’s personal and professional lives. These covered anything from mental health in the workplace, managing emails out of hours, socialising outside of work and the importance of taking annual leave.

Everything that took place over the week was designed to bring value to all of the people who make OPEN Health and emulate the OPEN Health wellness pillars - physical, mental, professional, and social. The week was a great success and many engaged with the activities; the involvement was displayed on social media accounts using the #OHWellnessWeek hashtag. 

If you’d like to work for a company which helps support personal and professional wellbeing with a holistic approach, please get in touch with Sarah Longmuir, HR Business Partner, OPEN Health on SarahLongmuir@openhealth.co.uk or visit our careers page on our website.