The Wellbeing Board in the Cybercafé displayed all the week's events.
Wellbeing Advocates Kathleen Pickett and Chung Tu organised the week of activities designed to give staff members time and space to improve their overall wellbeing.
“We wanted to provide chances for colleagues to take time out from work to either be active with Pilates, spend time in a quiet space, socialise at tea break or simply allow for distractions with a fun trivia quiz; all ways of counteracting some of the stress we can feel in everyday life,’ said Kathleen, who is HR and Administration Coordinator in the department.
Pilates
On Monday the 15th of April, a trial Pilates session was held in the Chemistry of Health meeting room for anybody who wanted to find out more about this deceptively simple form of exercise, which helps to strengthen and stabilise core muscles and improve wellbeing.
Instructor Frances Rennie, who provides all the mats and other equipment, has built up a loyal following for her popular Wednesday classes in the department, and this was a great opportunity for the uninitiated to find out what Pilates is all about.
“We were thrilled to have a full session and there were even smiles and laughs amidst the bending and stretches,” Kathleen was happy to report. She says further sessions may be on the horizon.
Health checks
A particularly successful session was the Health Check service on Tuesday the 16th, which was held in collaboration with the University of Cambridge Sports Service. The Sports Centre’s mobile trailer came to the department and gave pre-booked health checks. Because of it's popularity, more sessions will be offered on Tuesday the 9th of July between 9:30am - 4pm. You can read further details and book here.
A moment for mindfulness
On Wednesday the 17th, a quiet space was set aside in the Unilever Lecture Theatre for staff members to take a little time for a moment of calm, to relax, listen to a podcast, read a book, or just close their eyes.
De-stress with a tea break
On Thursday the 18th, free pastry and fruit were on offer in the Cybercafé, and many staff members enjoyed the chance to meet others and chat in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.
Brain training
To round off the week of activities, on Friday the 19th of April a ‘Friday Fun Quiz’ was mailed to our inboxes to tease our brains. To avoid too much frustration, answers were sent later the same day, so staff were able to satisfy their curiosity to questions such as:
• How many hearts does an octopus have?
• What is the name of the scale used to measure the spicy heat of peppers?*
All in all, the week was a great success.
“We were pleased that people spent a moment to think about their wellbeing, and also to interact with other staff members that they do not usually see. We hope that everyone enjoyed the activities -- any feedback would be very useful for future planning of events," said Chung, who is the Syntech CDT administrator.
The following links may also be of help:
- Little by little video by the Stress Management Society
- TED talks to help you manage stress
Kathleen and Chung would like to thank everybody who took part in the week’s activities. Please email Kathleen (kjp45@cam.ac.uk) or Chung Tu (ct465@cam.ac.uk) if you have suggestions of further wellbeing activities or events that you’d like to see.
*Answers
An octopus has three hearts.
The scale used to measure the spicy heat of peppers is the Scoville scale.