County Durham schools and academies take up Better Health at Work Award

Schools and academies across County Durham are prioritising workplace health by taking up the Better Health at Work Award (BHAWA). Several local educational institutions are now on board with the BHAWA County Durham, including 18 schools and one college.

It is widely evidenced that mental health is a key area of importance across all sectors including education. The health and wellbeing of staff in education as well as many other professions is deteriorating, but the BHAWA aims to combat this, and helps to improve the health and wellbeing of employees. The BHAWA County Durham is proud to provide the award to several schools and academies in the region, including Aycliffe Secure School. The number of educational institutions signing up to the BHAWA is rapidly increasing in the local area, as more institutions prioritise workplace health.

Karen Stubbings, BHAWA County Durham Project Lead, said: “With the recent influx of educational institutions signing up to the award, we are proud to aid the improvement of the health and wellness of staff working in education. The BHAWA County Durham have supported a total of 40,776 employees with health and wellbeing information, across 70 organisations on board with the award. Those who have interacted with the award, including the schools and academies, saw 85% improved confidence and wellbeing.”

The Advance Learning Partnership (ALP) have just completed the Bronze level of the award. Julie Gibson, Wellbeing Lead at ALP Central Services, said: “The recognition from our bronze award has inspired the Trust to facilitate rolling the award out to all of our schools, leading to a culture of wellbeing throughout… We discovered through the bronze award that our staff respond to competitiveness, fun and if there is something to take away, whether it be free samples or information booklets; engaged employees tend to be more productive, collaborative, and committed to their roles.”

The Pioneering Care Partnership is proud to deliver the BHAWA to the people of County Durham, to inspire workplaces to engage with employee health and wellbeing.

To sign up for the award and start your journey to better health in the workplace, contact workplacehealth@pcp.uk.net

To find out more about the Workplace Health initiative and the award, visit https://www.betterhealthcountydurham.co.uk/