This is an archive page

Bulletin

MPS team win May fitness challenge

A team of staff from Mathematical and Physical Sciences (MPS) were named the ‘most inspiring team’ at a celebration lunch last Friday (19 June) to mark the end of the month-long Commit to Get Fit challenge.

A photo of the staff members who participated in the Mass Charleston event as part of Commit to Get Fit 2015There was a great response to some of the new activities for Commit to Get Fit - with Charleston among those standing out.

The winning MPS team (pictured above) were one of 22 groups who took part this year in Sussexsport’s annual challenge, which encourages staff to work together with their colleagues throughout the month of May to become fitter and healthier.

Terry Cooper, Health & Fitness Development Officer for Sussexsport, said MPS won because they “completely involved themselves in the month”.

He added: “Commit to Get Fit is about trying new activities, working as a team and becoming more active.

“MPS tick every box. They had a new member of staff as captain and threw themselves into everything, taking part in pretty much everything that we put on.”

This year, 230 staff from across campus signed up to the challenge. Sussexsport offered them a complimentary one-month membership, put on a programme of additional activity sessions and held talks on related topics such as healthy eating and improving sleep.

There were more than 300 attendances at the specific Commit to Get Fit activities and a great response to some of the new ones - with bouldering, Charleston and handball standing out.

Rebecca Foster, MPS team captain, said: “It was great to try different activities, or ones that we might not have done for a while.

“We really enjoyed the quidditch – it was so different to everything else, and definitely a talking point! We also liked the Frisbee sessions and lots of our team had fun at the dance classes. We will definitely be back for more next year.

“It’s a good opportunity to meet people from all over the University, as well as to build relationships with people on your team.”

Terry also gave a special mention to teams from the School of Business, Management and Economics (BMEc) and Widening Participation, who were both “inspiring in their efforts and commitment”.

All staff taking part were encouraged to keep a blog about their experiences, using the University’s SPLASH resource.

Two prizes for the best blog series were awarded to Matt Tiernan from MPS and to BMEc as a whole.

Terry said: “They couldn’t be separated. Both wrote engaging, humorous and enjoyable blogs with photos to accompany them. They both included adventures of team mates and highlighted the range of activities that they had been doing.”

On the back of this year’s successes, Sussexsport will be looking to add some of the new activities over the summer and in the next academic year. Terry said: “We have already added a new flexibility class and will also be starting a back-care drop-in session from 30 June for three weeks.”