Did you know that regular exercise can boost work performance by around 15%? For many people, the easiest way to make activity part of everyday life is to walk or cycle instead of using the car to get around.
Knowsley Council’s Active Travel and Road Safety Team is supporting businesses to introduce a new Sustainable Travel And Road Safety (STARS) Active Travel Programme in the workplace and promote green transport choices.
The programme can help businesses to improve employee engagement, boost morale, reduce absenteeism and increase employee performance through active travel.
Organisations that opt in to the programme will also be provided with free membership to the Nationally Recognised Accreditation programme Modeshift STARS (https://modeshiftstars.org/).
Modeshift STARS is used by thousands of businesses, education providers and community settings across the UK to improve Travel Plan standards and award accreditation.
There are five levels of accreditation from Green through to Platinum which support Corporate Social Responsibility aims. Organisations signed up include NHS, Next and Fred Olsen.
Knowsley STARS can support organisations with:
- Achieving green accreditation
- Access to walking, cycling and public transport route information
- Cycling advice
- Workplace sessions, including Bike MOTs and road safety training
Cllr Tony Brennan, Knowsley Council’s Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Economic Development, said: “The STARS programme is a fantastic way to help your business go green, improve employee engagement and boost wellbeing.
“To stay healthy, government guidelines state that adults should try to be active every day and aim to do at least 150 minutes of physical activity over a week, through a variety of activities. By encouraging active travel, employers can support staff to achieve this.
“Studies have shown that an engaged workforce can improve operating income by as much as 20% which is a fantastic return on investment and shows the benefits to the programme for both employers and employees.”
You can download the full brochure here: Stars Business Brochure
To find out more contact Knowsley Council on roadsafety@knowsley.gov.uk