Worcestershire County Council have announced their partnership with tech for good platform, WellGiving.
County Council employees have taken on a 5-month fitness challenge to improve staff wellbeing while raising money for an initiative in honour of The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee this year.
Working in collaboration with Worcestershire Community Foundation, a charitable fundraising hub working across the entire county, the Council team of 28 participants have so far walked, jogged and ran a total of 1200 miles to raise funds for UK-wide tree-planting project, The Queen’s Green Canopy.
After mid-year reviews identified a need to collectively invest in the health and wellbeing of their entire team, Worcestershire County Council’s Economic Growth and Investment team enlisted the help of WellGiving to assist them with getting active and reconnecting their team through fundraising and fitness.
Sue Crow, Economic Growth and Investment Manager, commented: “We all agreed that in the wake of hybrid and remote working, there was a growing need for us to get moving more, and reconnect with each other as a team.
“WellGiving kindly offered its platform as a way for us to do both these things, while also making a positive impact on our community, and providing us with the motivation to reach both our fitness and fundraising goals.
“The platform has been instrumental in keeping the momentum of the challenge going, allowing us to share updates and pictures of our progress with each other and keep on top of our fundraising goals.
“In just 3 months into the challenge, we’ve already clocked 24,000 minutes of exercise across 547 activities, and are on track to achieve a combined total of 3900 miles in time for the Jubilee celebrations this June. I am incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved so far, and grateful for the support WellGiving has offered us every step of the way!”
Founder of WellGiving, Paul Rhodes, added: “We are delighted that WellGiving has helped Worcestershire County Council raise those important conversations about the health and wellbeing of its staff, and it has been a pleasure to support them during their fitness challenge.
“In creating WellGiving, we wanted to help teams meaningfully reconnect with each other while using charitable fundraising as a powerful motivator to help them meet their fitness goals, so it’s very rewarding to see the progress the Worcestershire County Council team have made, and I have every confidence they will continue to exceed their goals in the coming months.”
The challenge will run until Friday 3rd June, with all funds raised going towards The Queen’s Green Canopy project. The team plan to have a tree-planting day to celebrate their progress, creating a living legacy for future generations to enjoy in honour of the historic reign of The Queen.
The WellGiving platform, officially launched in January 2022 following a successful beta phase, is on track to raise in excess of £1 million for charities across the UK, while continuing to help organisations improve the health and wellbeing of remote and hybrid workers.