Healthy spaces and faces for Hamilton workplaces
4 March 2008 
Thirteen Hamilton workplaces are set to become much healthier in 2008.
Workplaces including Southern Grampians Adult Education, Bendigo Bank and the Southern Grampians Shire Council are participating in a Go for your Life initiative aimed at getting workers more active and eating healthier foods as part of a local project Challenging the Stereotypes.
Challenging the Stereotypes is a project delivering the messages of the “Go for your Life” initiative. It is funded by the Department of Human Services and the Department of Planning and Community Development. The project is a partnership between Western District Health Service, Southern Grampians & Glenelg Primary Care Partnership (SGGPCP) and Southern Grampians Shire.
The Go for your Life project officer, Fran Patterson, said “each workplace had been funded for initiatives designed to match their individual work environments, to encourage as many workers to participate as possible”.
“Some of the initiatives include changing food practices in the workplace, providing water bottles and water stations, starting walking groups, developing a vegetable garden for staff and their families, personal training sessions and regular education sessions for staff,” Ms Patterson said.
The initial phase of the project will begin in early February, 2008.
Workers will be provided with an information session and surveyed about their current physical activity and eating habits. They will also have their weight measured to provide a baseline measurement and will be remeasured and resurveyed in six months time to determine the effectiveness of the initiatives.
Workplaces involved in the initial year of the project are Southern Grampians Shire Council, RMIT University, Centrelink, Hunter Newns/Southern Finance, CITS, WHK Mahoney Archer, Timbercorp, Bendigo Bank, Glenelg Hopkins CMA, SGAE, IGA Supermarket, Iluka and WDHS Penshurst Campus.
For further details please contact Fran Patterson on 5551 4859.