Over summer 2019 several staff across the University took\npart in the Everest Challenge in aid of promoting physical and mental wellbeing\nat work. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Organised by Fliss Cargill, Professional Development Team\nManager at UWE Bristol, the challenge was to climb the equivalent of reaching\nthe top of Everest using only the stairs in the Bristol Business School. The\nnumber of steps required to do this was 58,070, equal to 2,420 flights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All staff members who were involved had 8 weeks to complete\nthe challenge and they recorded the flights they had taken each day, giving way\nto a bit of friendly competition between colleagues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fliss explains, \u201cThe purpose of the challenge was not only because I had always wanted to see how many times I\u2019d need to walk up to my office to reach Everest (403.3 times!) but just to make us all think about how we could add some exercise into our work routine by taking the stairs rather than the lift and how much this might add to our mental health as well as physical\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After a summer of aching calves and red faces, our staff\nmanaged to complete the challenge in an impressive 6 weeks \u2013 2 weeks ahead of\nschedule. This challenge proved that we can all add a little bit more movement\ninto our work day which is especially important for those who have a sedentary\njob role sat by a computer. We are lucky to have the facilities in the Bristol\nBusiness School building to do this easily, with a staircase from floors 2 to 6\nsituated in the middle of the building with access from the downstairs Atrium\ncaf\u00e9. <\/p>\n\n\n\n