A Staffordshire-based charity has set out a new approach to workplace wellbeing, launching a Happiness Manifesto designed to support its staff’s health, work-life balance and productivity.
Together Active, which works across Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent to improve physical activity and mental wellbeing, said the manifesto reflects growing concern about the impact of working life on people’s health.
The manifesto was developed with staff and sets out practical commitments aimed at improving day-to-day working life. These include respecting personal time by limiting contact outside working hours and during leave, encouraging playfulness, curiosity and respect, taking lunch breaks and not feeling guilty about sometimes having lower energy days.
As part of the changes, Together Active is also trialling a four-day working week, which it says is intended to give staff more time to rest, be active and maintain a healthier balance between work and home life.
Chief executive Carly Jones said: “We know that how people feel at work matters. When people are stretched, tired or burnt out, it affects their health and the quality of what they’re able to give.
“We want to create a culture where people can look after themselves and do work they’re proud of. Our Happiness Manifesto is about changing how we work, day in and day out.”
The organisation pointed to wider health challenges in the region, where inactivity rates remain high and levels of depression are above the national average. Together Active said stress, lack of balance and long working hours are closely linked to these issues and should be addressed as part of workplace culture.
The charity works with councils, health partners and community organisations to increase physical activity and improve long-term health, particularly for people who are most excluded from being active.
Carly said that creating a healthier workplace for the organisation’s own staff was part of its wider responsibility to communities and the region.
She added: “If we want to support healthier, more active communities, we have to pay attention to how our own people are working and living. This manifesto is about creating the conditions for people to thrive, not just get through the week.”
