UCAS has been recognised for the work it does to support its employees’ health and wellbeing in Gloucestershire by achieving the foundation level of accreditation through the Healthy Workplaces Gloucestershire award.

As a champion of education and progression, UCAS supports colleagues in developing both as professionals and as people. The company culture has a specific focus on wellbeing and mental health, offering support through wellbeing champions and mental health first-aiders.

Since achieving the accreditation, a recent wellbeing survey showed that 99% of employees feel UCAS cares about wellbeing with 92% of line managers’ making wellbeing a priority. With over 400 employees, UCAS credits the Healthy Workplace scheme with reducing sickness absence by 22% and improving staff morale.

The company’s wellbeing initiatives are driven by a team of Wellbeing Champions who are supported by the Executive and senior management team. This has helped embed wellbeing within the culture of the organisation which is evidenced by the number of managers and teams running their own wellbeing initiatives to support the corporate events. 

Elaine Chandler, Director of HR at UCAS said; “Last year we launched our MHFA scheme and we currently have 17 Mental Health First Aiders. We are increasingly trying to demonstrate the links between wellbeing topics such as between mental health and menopause rather than treating them as isolated topics.

Initiatives this year included additional mental health support to colleagues during the lockdown, with bespoke videos advising on anxiety during a pandemic and working from home. We held our annual wellbeing event virtually for the first time and focused on homeworking related support, such as physio advice on improving musculoskeletal health and how to improve sleep.  Alongside our wellbeing event and initiatives, we also ensured that employees had access to appropriate equipment, such as additional screens and chairs which were delivered to colleagues. Our CEO and leadership team also communicated regular reminders to colleagues to focus on their wellbeing during lockdown and provided flexibility with working patterns to support this”. 

“We are delighted to have been awarded the healthy workplace award. The accreditation process was really straightforward and the support from the Healthy Workplace coaches really helped to get the whole organisation on board.”

The Healthy Workplaces Gloucestershire award supports organisations to improve their culture and working environment by providing opportunities to make lifestyle changes like healthy eating or quitting smoking for employees.  If you would like to register your workplace or find out more information on the Healthy Workplaces scheme, please visit www.hwglos.org email workplaces@hlsglos.org or call the team on 0800 122 3788.