Long-standing workplace initiative
Staff from Scottish workplaces are invited to ditch the desk and walk the walk by signing up to get active and compete in a national autumn walking challenge.
Teams of five can now register for the 2022 autumn Step Count Challenge, managed by Scottish walking charity Paths for All.
The popular and long-standing workplace initiative encourages colleagues to come together and discover fun and exciting ways to stay active in and around the working day.
Beginning on Monday, 31 October, the challenge, will run for four weeks throughout November.
Earlier this year, 834 teams took part in the eight-week spring Step Count Challenge when over 4,000 people took over 2.2 billion steps.
Despite cooling temperatures and darker nights, the charity expects eager teams both new and returning to don their favourite walking shoes again this autumn.
Carl Greenwood, senior development officer at Paths for All said: “Walking is increasingly recognised as a rewarding, low-carbon and incredibly beneficial form of physical activity, travel, and recreation. We’re delighted to see the number of participating teams increasing each year, owing to the enthusiasm of Scottish workplaces to get active.
“We love seeing the enjoyment and benefit teams take from their involvement in the Step Count Challenge, which attracts those of all ages and abilities. The Challenge is a positive step for workplaces to take, with those taking part enjoying mental, social and physical boosts.
“Workplaces are placing more emphasis on staff wellbeing and flexibility for physical activity – being active helps to increase focus and productivity, improves wellbeing and reduces stress.
“We’ll continue to support the teams taking part this autumn with tips, motivational blogs, and weekly prize draws. We encourage as many teams as possible to take part and to really enjoy the benefits that walking offers.”
Sign-up teams have access to a team challenge dashboard, loaded with inspirational blogs, resources and tools. Teams can track their daily walked or cycled miles and can access a carbon calculator to measure the positive impact making local journeys on foot has on the environment.
Team members can easily sync their chosen fitness trackers to the Step Count Challenge website and message team mates online. More competitive teams can battle it out against hundreds of other workplaces in bid to take a national leader board top spot.
Everyone taking part in the challenge will be automatically entered into a prize draw to win a £1000 gift voucher for Macdonald Hotels & Resorts.
