Wellness - actions not words

Wellness has long been a priority for our CEO, and he appointed an experienced mentor and advisor early on his tenure. Simon Roberts, who also provides business coaching and individual mentoring, has run a number of sessions across a range of subjects, and is also available to any Aker individual on a one-to-one basis. Topics covered to date include sleep, nutrition, intentional movement and stress management. Simon has also hosted wide ranging discussions on other related topics including breathing and cold therapy, citing the famous Wim Hof (and the science behind the ‘ice-man’, which led to a number of the Aker team immersing themselves in cold water and braving cold showers!), the importance of being outside and early morning exposure to sunlight and nature to support restarting our biological clocks and improve our immune and sleep.

We have also had focussed programmes, for example 'lets connect' run by Varsha Mistry, our HR Director, that we ran during mental health awareness week in May of this year, and which included links to related material, group discussions with Simon, and sessions around recognising and coping with loneliness run by James Hazeldine, our Service Delivery Director. Future wellness topics include creating a healthy home working environment, the importance of grounding, and simple evening routines for improving sleep patterns.