Our revolutionary new initiative, Business Health Matters, that will support businesses across Lancashire in improving the health and wellbeing of their employees has launched today, Monday 13^th September.

Supported by 18 delivery partners and a number of regional and national organisations, the Active Lancashire led programme has brought together the expertise of specialists at the University of Central Lancashire, ukactive and Lancashire Mind to deliver a tailored and affordable workplace health offer to Lancashire-based SMEs. As a result of this 3-year programme, employees across the county will be empowered to take ownership and improve their own health and wellbeing, whilst businesses will benefit from a healthier, happier and more resilient workforce. You can learn more about the programme via our new short video, below.

In response to the increased levels of poor health within Lancashire’s workforce, the programme offers two main services to businesses in the form of the ESF-funded Workplace Health Champion Training and the government-backed Workplace Health Screenings service. The free training includes basic skills (Mathematics, English and ESOL) and a Level 2 and Level 3 NCFE-accredited qualification for those individuals who wish to drive change in their organisations and create a network of health ambassadors across the county. The screenings, focused on employees aged 50+, combine a physical health assessment and mental health element to produce a unique tool for employees to learn more about their own health and take positive steps to improve it.

The programme has undertaken a robust training and pilot phase over the last 12 months, where staff from leisure trusts and local authorities have undergone extensive training to deliver both the Workplace Health Champion Training and the Workplace Health Screening service. Today’s launch signals the start of the delivery of this exciting programme which will aim to train 5,000 Workplace Health Champions and conduct over 15,000 health screenings in the workplace, over the next 3 years.

Adrian Leather, Chief Executive at Active Lancashire, explained: “Speaking to Lancashire businesses and business leaders, I repeatedly hear about the loss of staff due to sickness and poor attendance at work; some of it due to the pandemic, much of it due to long term health conditions. Today’s launch of Business Health Matters creates a significant opportunity to increase the competitiveness of our 53,000 businesses and the productivity of our 650,000 workers in Lancashire. The research shows that by improving the mental and physical health of employees in Lancashire, we can reduce rate of sickness absence in the county and increase those retained in employment. By bringing these levels in line with national averages, the economy in Lancashire would grow by £3Bn per year.”

“Thanks to the hard work of our dedicated delivery partners and our team, I am very confident Business Health Matters will drive tangible change within businesses and improve productivity, staff satisfaction and retention for years to come.”

Combining £5million investment from the European Social Fund and £3million from the UKRI’s healthy ageing challenge, the launch of the programme is a landmark moment for Lancashire with a huge potential to benefit Lancashire’s economy and ease the strain on the county’s health services, with support from a range of partners including Lancashire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), Chambers of Commerce, Sport England and Lancashire County Council.

For further information on the programme, please email businesshealthmatters@activelancashire.org.uk or call 01772 299830.

An innovative Lancashire based project to make employees’ lives healthier has received national funding.

Active Lancashire and the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) have joined forces to lead a programme which will upskill gym and leisure centre employees, so they are qualified to conduct health screenings within workplaces.

The ground-breaking project, which forms part of a broader initiative titled Business Health Matters, will help to better identify ways in which employees and employers can start to address conditions like back pain, poor mental health or diabetes before they become life limiting or impact people’s ability to live healthy lives as they age. Additional benefits will include sustained employment and increased productivity.

Adrian Leather, Chief Executive of Active Lancashire, said: “We have not seen this innovative approach to workplace health on a scale like this in Lancashire or elsewhere in the UK before. We are leading on something truly original and believe our Business Health Matters scheme will have a huge positive impact on the health and wellbeing of the county’s workforce.”

UCLan’s School of Medicine has already developed a screening tool which will enable leisure services’ staff to administer the screening process, which is consistent with the national screening programme currently provided by general practitioners. This screening tool will be coupled with a suite of mental and physical health interventions that can support working aged individuals.

Professor StJohn Crean, UCLan Pro Vice-Chancellor (Research and Enterprise), said: “The project has the potential to reduce demand on GP services, engage a new workforce in the delivery of health-related services at a time of shortages of trained health staff and reduce demand on high cost acute services. We are delighted to be collaborating on the ground-breaking programme and we look forward to working with leisure professionals throughout Lancashire.”

The scheme is being supported by a wide range of interested bodies including the Lancashire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), the county’s Chambers of Commerce, the North West Coast Innovation Agency, Lancashire Mind, Sport England, UK Active and Lancashire County Council.

Steve Fogg, Chair of the Lancashire LEP, commented: “This is a fantastic partnership which is bringing together so many of the county’s major organisations. The desire for all to work collaboratively to help the lives of Lancashire people is tremendous.”

Liz Mear, Chief Executive of the North West Coast Innovation Agency, added: “We’re delighted to support this innovative project which aims to improve the health of thousands of workers within Lancashire.”

The project, which will receive nearly £65,000, is one of only seven throughout the country which has received Government funding today, 26th August 2020, from the UK Research and Innovation’s industrial strategy challenge fund for healthy ageing.

For more information please visit: www.businesshealthmatters.org.uk