Voltedge take on the 5K Twilight Team Challenge

We were delighted to support the recent charity run hosted by the Dundrum South Dublin (or DSD) Athletic Club, Ireland’s largest athletic club, who, are also organisers of the Vhi Women’s Mini Marathon. This event held on the eventing of 28th September, where we literally ran into the twilight, was aimed at organisations who encourage their employees to take positive steps towards wellness and a health lifestyle generally. And so Voltedge put forward a team of 4 to represent us and what a fun evening it was. They did very well and even managed to pick up a team prize! A proportion of the profits made from the Twilight Team Challenge which was sponsored by the Spirit Motor Group, will be donated to the Ross Nugent Foundation.

5k-run

Mental health and wellbeing for businesses is of course very important and here are just a few reminders of how important it is for organisations to promote activities and events that will encourage and promote wellness for all.

  • 1 in 5 working people will have a mental health difficulty at some point in their working life.
  • Maintain  ‘appropriate’ contact throughout an employee sickness. Just as you would check in with an employee that broke a leg, maintain the similar contact with an employee that is off work for other reasons that could be related to their mental health. A supporting message or phone call can make all the difference.
  • Employers can make ‘reasonable accommodations’ to employees that seek assistance in coping with mental health difficulties. This could be something as simple as a manager agreeing that instead of a one-hour lunch, an employee may take 30 mins and two 15 min breaks to walk out of the office and ease their anxiety.
  • From a recent IBEC study,  7 out of 10 employees are more likely to stay long term if they feel their employer cares about their mental wellbeing.
  • Proper hydration can improve performance by 10% – so we are all encouraged to have about 8 glasses a day!

According to Pat Henry, we will live until 100 if we eat a low GI diet and do some weight training. He also advises that the single most important thing we must do is to spend some quiet time with our own thoughts. This would include not reading the paper with your morning coffee… instead sit and think. In the gym, or walking to work try to forfeit your headphones sometimes.

IBEC is soon to launch ‘The KeepWell Mark’ initiative. This will be an evidence based accreditation that recognises and celebrates organisations that put the wellbeing of employees at the forefront of company policy.