Breckland Pilot Interventions

Uscreates have identified and developed a number of interventions and improvements to introduce to Breckland Council offices. They range from small-scale changes to larger scale changes to systems and services. Some of the ideas are practical and some are more unusual and radical.

Intervention – Grown Up Lunch Boxes

‘Grown Up Lunch Boxes’ designed to encourage staff to prepare a healthy lunch at home. Features may include encouraging more fruit and vegetables, methods of keeping ‘wet’ foods sealed or an appealing ‘grown up’ aesthetic.

Image shown – designer, Daniil Sergeyev, photographer Anna Ponomaryova

Intervention – Networking Breaks

Structured breaks in the working day, signified by an alarm bell, encouraging staff to break away from desk and network in a communal area with refreshments.

Intervention – Tailor Made Lunch Packs

Lunch packs designed for different employee’s habits, needs and commitments.

For example, a ‘Back to back meetings’ pack designed to provide healthy snack foods to keep an employee going throughout a busy day of meetings.
Other lunch packs may include:
‘On the Go’
‘Desk Based Day’
‘Lunch with a friend’

Intervention – Un-ready Meals

UsCreates Un-ready Meal bags and baking sheets developed to promote scratch cooking within office environments.

The recipes would be appropriate to the limited kitchen facilities available in the office environment (i.e. microwaves).

Intervention – Trial Food Facility

There are plans from the Norfolk Primary Care Trust to relocate to the same site as Breckland Council therefore increasing the onsite workforce to over 400. With this increase in size there are early plans to provide an on-site food facility.

A temporary food facility can be trialled to gain an initial idea on usage, and impact on the workforce. A portable Piaggio coffee and sandwich van could trade on site or the existing sandwich vans could provide outdoor seating and coffee to mimic a café style food facility.

Intervention – Healthy Snack Dispensers

Installing sweetie dispensers and replacing sweeties with healthy snacks such as nuts and dried fruit.

Intervention – Improve Food Offered By Sandwich Vans

There are two sandwich vans that visit the Breckland site. They sell a range of good value sandwiches, crisps, cakes and drinks. The sandwich vans come at 9.30am and 10.30am and stay for about 10mins. Staff come out at these times to buy food.

Encouraging and supporting the sandwich vans to provide healthy and appealing choices would improve the variety of food available to employees and increase sales. Other improvements include; sandwich van staff walking around the building selling food or to arrange for an optional email subscription which can be sent out to notify staff that the vans have arrived.

Intervention – MetroNap Energy Pod

Install a MetroNap Energy Pod into the Breckland Office to provide employees the opportunity to maximise their energy levels through the proactive use of sleep and napping techniques. Visit www.metronaps.com for more information.

Intervention – Message Display

Use the Breckland digital rolling message display to report on the progress of the pilot and provide interesting facts and anecdotes to employees.

Intervention – Lunchtime Activities

Lunchtime or after work activities to improve health and wellbeing. E.g. aerobics, Pilates, walking or volunteering.

Intervention – Improve Staff Room

The staff room is a small space with strip lighting and institutional chairs arranged around the perimeter of the room. There is a book sale scheme available for employees however; the books and goods are displayed over nearly all of the surfaces in the room leaving little space for other activities such as eating, reading etc. In addition, there are no refreshment or kitchen facilities available.

There is the potential to transform the room into an inviting and relaxing space. A culture change needs to be initiated, as there is a core group of employees who use the space with the majority having never been in the room.

Intervention – Improved Kitchen Aesthetic

The on site kitchens are basic areas with basic facilities. Introducing simple, space saving tables and chairs will give opportunities for people to eat their lunch or drink their tea away from their desks.

Adding inspirational material to the walls (e.g. recipe ideas, lunch ideas, motivational materials) like the Sainsbury’s Try Something New poster above, would encourage employees to prepare healthy lunches and snacks.

Intervention – Subsidised Gym Membership

Breckland employees receive subsidised gym membership to local sports and leisure centres.

Intervention – Free Tea and Coffee

Breckland Council do not currently provide tea and coffee for staff. Providing staff with free tea, coffee and fresh milk would be a lost cost way for Breckland to communicate to the staff that they are valued.

Intervention – Enhance Outdoor Eating Area

Protect from weather and improve landscaping and seating.

Intervention – Cooking Equipment

Limited cooking facilities and equipment are available for staff to prepare and eat food within the office. Introducing simple cooking equipment such as chopping boards and knives will provide staff with the means to prepare food at the office rather than buying pre-packaged meals.

Intervention – Office Cookbook

A cookbook with recipes designed to be prepared using the basic cooking equipment available in offices. Sections within the book may suggest recipes or meal ideas for different work situations such as lunchtime meetings or for team lunches.

Alternatively, the recipe ideas could take the format of recipe cards or an online resource.

Intervention – Lunch Ingredient Delivery to Workplace

Healthy ingredients conveniently delivered to workplace encouraging employees to make a simple, quick, healthy lunch from scratch, with the facilities available to them. Recipe ideas and cooking instructions may be provided with ingredients.

This service could be co-developed with a local produce delivery service or with the sandwich vans, which already visit the site daily, to ensure sustainability and commercial viability.

Intervention – Honesty Fruit Bowl

Communal fruit bowls available for staff. Staff can drop cash into a kitty, which is used to top up the fruit.

Intervention – Email Communities

An email alert system whereby employees can subscribe to subjects that interest them and receive email alerts related to this subject. This will create clubs, communities and support networks. For example, one community might receive alerts notifying them that the sandwich van has arrived, or another might receive alerts on social events.

Intervention – Break Out Areas

Areas for staff to take quality breaks away from their desk, utilising un-used office space (e.g. corridors or stairwells). Simple, basic and comfortable furniture arranged to create informal breaking, meeting areas and social areas and providing an alternative to the relatively un-used staff room.

Intervention – Breckland Chef / Nutritionist

Linking a Chef or Nutritionist to Breckland to advise and update interventions.

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