From my work intranet today:
The Group is giving its support to a new Government scheme aimed at bringing businesses and other organisations together to help improve public health.
Participating companies signing up to the Department of Health's 'Public Health Responsibility Deal' agree to a series of individual and collective pledges. These cover areas like food, alcohol, physical activity and health in the workplace.
Our pledges help colleagues to make healthy choices. For example, making sure staff restaurants include healthy meal choices, participating in the Bike to Work scheme or making healthcare and health assessment options available under our Flexible Benefits Programme.
We have also used our involvement in the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games to create an individual pledge. The Group is using the inspiration of the Games to get more than 5 million young people to take part in National School Sport Week in 2012.
Around 360 partners have been signed up for the scheme. The Group has received a letter of thanks from the Secretary of State for Health, Andrew Lansley, which confirms the important role this will play in addressing pressing public health issues.
Dominic Morris, Group Director of Public Affairs, says our involvement again underlines the importance the Group places on making a positive contribution to communities.
"As a major employer we were very happy to sign up and help benefit our colleagues, communities and the wider public," he says.
"This partnership, which spans Government, business and the voluntary sector, has the potential to make a significant contribution to improving public health."
Which is a long-winded way of saying not much at all. There's nothing 'new' that they're doing (and I haven't noticed a particular push for Bike2Work, indeed the table set up in our big public area yesterday was to encourage staff to take up the Cars4Staff offer).
This being the group that doesn't have a BUG, and bounced me from pillar to post in trying to set one up, and has nothing at all, not one thing, on the intranet about making the choices to cycle to work. Seriously. Nothing.
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