In May 2019, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust launched a new sustainability programme in order to encourage behavioural change among its 20,000 employees.
The trust was keen to engage its workforce with the idea of improving their actions around sustainability and wellbeing, however, with such a large workforce, spread over multiple sites, it needed a programme that offered a wide reach. The trust, therefore, introduced the Green Rewards programme, provided by Jump.
Claire Igoe, head of environmental sustainability at Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, says: “Green Rewards appealed because, firstly, it would help us get that wider reach across the organisation and, secondly, it was about individual behaviours and more closely links home and work activities.”
The trust shaped the programme around multiple pillars: Fuel, which looks at water, energy and employees’ carbon footprint; Journeys, which relates to transport; Nature, which encourages outdoor activity; Nurture, which focuses on health and wellbeing activities, such as exercise, eating right, mindfulness and volunteering; Consumption, which is about waste, reusing resources and pledging to go plastic free; and Engage, which promotes referring a friend or attending events, for example.
Employees are able to track their involvement in positive actions relating to these key areas through an online platform and app, and earn green points for taking part. Employees that earn the most points in a month are rewarded with a voucher.
Katy Isaac, sustainability officer, says: “As a trust, we have an overarching sustainability strategy that covers all of our work areas. We aligned Green Rewards with the work we were already doing. We handpicked quite broad areas so that, as the programme develops and we get more people involved, we can keep updating the activities and pick what we think is relatable according to wider trust priorities”