Be Well @ Work Gold accreditation

We’ve achieved the gold accreditation for the Be Well @ Work Award, which helps us to build good practices for workplace health and wellbeing.

This involves a detailed assessment of our health and wellbeing activities including:

• our people / health and safety policies
• mental and physical health awareness campaigns
• training and development for colleagues
• how our wellbeing champions support colleagues
• how we help colleagues with long-term health conditions

We’ve worked with the Employment and Skills team at Barnsley Council who manage the Be Well @ Work programme since 2022. With their support we’ve enhanced our wellbeing initiatives by training wellbeing champions and connecting with specialist agencies.

As part of the assessment over 200 colleagues shared their views on how we promote good physical and mental health. The review highlighted that we have good measures in place to support colleague wellbeing through access to physiotherapy and counselling, health campaigns, and on-site health checks.

Amanda Garrard, Chief Executive, said: “Having happy and healthy colleagues is a top priority for us, and we can’t achieve our vision of creating great homes and communities with the people of Barnsley without them. Being awarded the Be Well @ Work gold accreditation is a great achievement for Berneslai Homes and one of the ways we’re contributing to the Healthy Barnsley ambitions of Barnsley 2030.”

Councillor Robin Franklin, Cabinet Spokesperson for Regeneration and Culture, said: “Congratulations to Berneslai Homes on achieving the Be Well @ Work Gold Award for Workplace Health and Wellbeing. This recognition demonstrates the organisation’s strong commitment to supporting the physical and mental wellbeing of its workforce.

“Berneslai Homes has shown a leading approach to employee wellbeing, offering flexible and hybrid working options, access to physiotherapy and counselling services, and a dedicated team of trained Health and Wellbeing Champions who provide guidance and support to staff experiencing health or wellbeing challenges.

“We’re proud to see this level of commitment from a local Barnsley business, because we know that good health is key to helping people stay well, stay in work, and thrive.”