A leading disability support organisation has challenged Illawarra businesses to step up and take responsibility for the health of their employees.
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Driven by the desire to create a healthier workforce, Ray Warrington from House with No Steps wanted to create a healthy lifestyle program for staff and people they supported that left no room for excuses.
Managers didn't just talk the talk, they lead by example. In the first six months more than 200 people made changes in their life.
A senior manager has completed two marathons, another rode 200 kilometres to conquer cancer, other pedalled in the Sydney to Gong bike ride - all in the past 12 months.
Mr Warrington too showed how it's done, pounding the pavement in half marathons.
Community members supported by House with No Steps have also jumped on board, getting fitter, shedding kilos and making changes to their diet.
Mr Warrington said the key to the program's success was participation and strong support from middle and senior management.
"It hasn't been a case of 'here is a program for you', but rather 'we're doing this, would you like to come and join us'," he said.
The motivation for the program came from Angela Saville's raising of money for House with No Steps during Savvy Survivor Summer Series in 2010.
"We had a number of staff participate in this event and from this the program was born. Many continue to attend the Savvy program on an ongoing basis.
"Angela offered outdoor fitness as well as motivation to get up and move each day," he said.
For people not keen on outdoor group exercise, Anytime Fitness offered a special rate to staff and their families.
"They were also able to offer an alternative to outdoor training to accommodate shift workers with the 24/7 gyms," he said.
"This was vital in getting the program to all our staff no matter where they lived and worked."
With the support of general manager David Guy and the fitness organisations locked in, Mr Warrington brought in BaiMed Physiotherapy and Sports Injury Clinic to talk about managing workplace injury.
"They were also able to talk about conditioning the body to meet the requirements of the job," Mr Warrington said.
"Movement Medicine [exercise physiologists] came to talk about age-related injuries and health issues geared to an ageing population within our staff and the people we support."
Since then the Food Patrol has started offering health eating and weight loss programs.
Mr Warrington said the program was unique and could be fitted to suit any organisation.
"It has been extremely successful for us, and we continue to make improvements and look to add other pieces to the puzzle."