King's Mill Hospital staff in Sutton-in-Ashfield encouraged to get involved with Nottinghamshire County Council's Travel Choice Nottinghamshire scheme
Staff at King’s Mill Hospital, Sutton-in-Ashfield have been encouraged to get involved with a council’s active travel scheme.
Sherwood Forest Hospital Trust’s (SFHT) chief executive Mr Richard Mitchell is keen to encourage employees to walk, cycle, car share and use public transport to get to and from work.
Founded by the Government, Travel Choice Nottinghamshire is a two-year County Council-led scheme, which offers tailored travel planning advice.
Advisors visited King’s Mill Hospital as part of the trust’s push to promote health and wellbeing.
Staff were able to discuss the travel choices available to them and help people identify their local walking and cycling routes as well as their public transport options.
Mr Mitchell said: “The NHS and social care are busy, pressurised environments to work in and many of us have long commutes to work. But, irrespective of the distance, as a large employer I think Travel Choice is a great opportunity to support colleagues with their physical and mental health.”
Amy Gouldstone, one of the trust’s health and wellbeing leads, said: “Staff have fed back that they would like to get more physically active, so why not join together your commute and exercise whether this is walking or cycling; or using the bus to let public transport take the strain and getting off at an earlier stop to walk the rest of the way.
“County council travel advisers were here to talk to staff about ways of travelling to work that people don’t necessarily think about, or might be undecided about, that burn calories, improve mood and get their exercise done within their daily routine.”
Along with advice and information, staff were offered incentives and training, which included bus taster tickets for those who wanted to try travelling to work via public transport.
Staff were also encouraged to sign-up for the Dr Bike maintenance and cycle training sessions, which will take place in the spring to coincide with the NHS Sustainability Roadshow. The Via East Midlands road safety team also offered staff road safety advice.
The county council’s communities and place committee chairman, Mr John Cottee said plans to encourage healthier, greener travel in the Mansfield area were gaining pace.
Mr Cottee said: “SFHT is just one organisation we are working with as part of Travel Choice. This is our long-term plan to encourage people in Mansfield and Newark to get more active as part of their everyday lives, use greener transport to help tackle congestion and improve air quality, and to help people access job opportunities.”
