Our Staff Wellbeing Champions are trialling a new way of working to enhance our current wellbeing offer. This model enables colleagues to volunteer for one-off, short-term projects, making it easier to get involved alongside existing workloads. It recognises that staff availability varies throughout the year, while maintaining momentum on wellbeing initiatives.

The first sprint, sponsored by the Rewards team, focused on reviewing local staff benefits. Wellbeing Champions Alice Horncastle, Jemma Plummer, Warren Cole and Natalya Marysheva assessed our current offer, identified gaps, and explored ways to improve awareness and accessibility.

Their review highlighted a key issue: even engaged colleagues weren’t always aware of the full range of benefits available. By benchmarking against other universities, the team also identified opportunities to strengthen and enhance the offer.

The findings were developed into a proposal and presented to the HR Rewards team, led by Nathaniel Gait. Work is already underway to take these forward, including plans for a more accessible, user-friendly benefits platform. Other recommendations include improving clarity around travel discounts, a review of our fitness provision and reviewing Reward processes.

Wellbeing Champions play a vital role in making it easier for colleagues to access the support available to them, helping colleagues not only support their wellbeing but also make meaningful financial savings.

Nicola Riley, Staff Health & Wellbeing Manager, said:

When I first introduced the sprint project approach, there was some initial hesitation. I was delighted when members volunteered to take part. With strong leadership from Alice Horncastle, the team brought real energy to the project and produced practical recommendations. We’ve also established a valuable working relationship with the Rewards team, and we’re now preparing to launch our second sprint.

Staff Wellbeing Champion, Alice Horncastle, said:

The Staff Benefits Project was a fantastic opportunity to collaborate with colleagues across the university, and it boosted my professional development with leadership, teamwork, problem-solving, and project management skills. It was inspiring to work with my fellow Staff Wellbeing Champions as I witnessed their passion and commitment to implementing real change for our community. Well done to our project team, I'm very proud of what we achieved!

Following the success of the first sprint, planning is underway for the next project, with further opportunities for Wellbeing Champions to get involved.

If you're interested in becoming a Wellbeing Champion and taking part in future projects, please get in touch with Nicola Riley to find out more.