It's the Calderdale Way for Adult Services

Adult Services staff across Calderdale have been putting their best foot forward and achieving incredible results thanks to a workplace activity challenge delivered by Active Teams.

To mark National Walking Month in May, staff were invited to take part in a virtual journey along the iconic Pennine Way. The challenge encouraged colleagues to get moving, with every mile travelled through activities such as walking, running and swimming helping their team progress along the 268-mile route.

The response was fantastic.

A total of 46 staff members, split across five teams, signed up to take on the challenge. Not only did every team complete the Pennine Way before the end of the month, but the collective effort was so impressive that Active Teams introduced an additional challenge, the Pennine Paths Ultra, doubling the distance to 536 miles. Two Calderdale teams rose to the occasion and completed the extended challenge too.

The statistics highlight just how committed staff were to moving more:

• 66,089 minutes of physical activity recorded

• 1,455 individual activities completed

• 2,887 active miles travelled

• 39 staff members achieved the recommended 150 minutes of activity in a week

The challenge also led to an increase in activity levels compared with the previous Active Teams challenge, demonstrating the positive impact that friendly competition and teamwork can have on wellbeing.

Walking proved to be the most popular activity by some distance, accounting for 68% of all activity recorded. Staff also logged workouts, running sessions, swimming, cycling and yoga, showing there are many ways to build movement into daily life.

Perhaps most importantly, participants enjoyed taking part and supporting each other along the way. Feedback from staff included:

"It's been good."

"Well done Keep on Calder Movin' team and everyone else... glad I could contribute a few vital miles over the weekend to help us achieve the ending!!"

"Really enjoyed the challenge."

The success of the challenge is another great example of how small changes can make a big difference. By encouraging colleagues to move more throughout the working week, Active Teams has helped Adult Services staff boost their physical activity, support their wellbeing and have some fun along the way.

Congratulations to everyone who took part and helped make the challenge such a remarkable success.