Walk BC

In January 2009 School District #72 (Campbell River) initiated a 3-phase workplace physical activity program. The program ran throughout February and March and 177 employees "Stepped Up" to 10,000 steps a day. 

The theme throughout the program was "Step It Up A Notch" to encourage everyone to do a little more physical activity than they were doing before. The overall goal of the program was to encourage inactive to moderately active employees to start living actively.  

How did they do it? 

The School District EFAP/Wellness Committee recruited 21 site coordinators-one per worksite-to help promote and motivate participation at each workplace.  

They implemented the program in three phases:  

Phase 1 - Get started, warm-up and follow the SportMedBC program.

Phase 2 - Walk 10,000 steps a day individually and work towards various team goals. Phase 3 - Celebrate the programs completion and the start of living more actively with a 5 km walk.   

A bulletin was sent to employees every Monday to inform them about the various events and activities for the upcoming week. Several employees took leadership roles in promoting healthy lifestyles. This, coupled with active, ongoing promotion increased employee awareness about the health benefits associated with living actively. 

Walk BC assisted School District #72 with funding and resources such as The Walking for Fitness Book. "The WalkBC funding allowed us to host a great final Celebration Event," says June Hinshaw, Chairperson of SD 72 District EFAP/Wellness Committee. "Having high profile supporters such as SportMedBC, Heart and Stroke Foundation and BC Recreation and Parks Association provided credibility to what we were trying to accomplish." 

How did they encourage participation? 

Incentives! Incentives were distributed throughout the program to  

• encourage people to sign-up with SportMedBC;
• reward participants who reached 10,000 steps a day;
• create friendly competitions among workplace teams for example
  
  • incentive prizes were awarded for two team challenges,
  • A 'Golden Shoe' trophy was awarded to a small, medium and large team that had the highest overall step average in their category throughout the month of March. 

"The WalkBC funding allowed us to provide more quality incentives throughout the initiative," says Hinshaw. "We definitely want to continue with some type of spring initiative in 2010. People appreciated the effort put in on their behalf and enjoyed the camaraderie achieved through such an initiative."