Wills Westenra based in Whangarei, has been infusing small workplace wellbeing initiatives throughout the year as part of their hauora journey.

Wills Westenra started with Sport Northland’s Active Workplace initiative back in 2020 and over time, the team has developed initiatives around nutrition, movement, challenges, and educational opportunities.

The initiatives were based on initial consultation from staff to hear their thoughts and ideas on how the wellbeing programme could look – this was all backed up by the Wills Westenra Directors.

Throughout the time, staff connected to the Sport Northland run/walk series, received discounts to local facilities, participated in nutritional webinars, offered healthy recipes/alternatives/immunity reminders, and enjoyed in-house massage for overall wellbeing benefits.

With the team graduating from Active Workplaces, they have taken their in-house wellbeing to the next level with having finalized a new wellbeing policy. The policy outlines wellbeing for staff with the preventative care fund being a highlight for each employee. The preventative care fund is accessible to each employee (in a monetary amount) to support them to look after their wellbeing. The fund has been well received by employees with purchases of gym equipment, joining a facility to increase activity, purchasing new active gear/shoes, Osteopath, and massage to name a few.

As Wills Westenra have entered the graduation stage, check out the reflection from one of the staff “there’s something for everyone to benefit from in the workplace wellbeing programme.  It is certainly not a waste of time and money. Very motivating to help staff get more active and aware of workplace health.”

If you would like any further information on the Active Workplaces programme here at Sport Northland, email sharona@sportnorth.co.nz or check out our Active Workplaces FB page.