Kent County Council offers online fitness programmes

Kent County Council has launched a virtual gym to give its 44,000 employees access to online personalised fitness programmes.

Staff are issued with a password with which to log on to the website, where they can complete a questionnaire and then receive tailored advice on health and wellbeing.

They can then access a range of videos on regimes such as Pilates, yoga and aerobics, uploaded by provider VirtualGym TV. New sessions will be added each week.

Elaine Mason, organisation and employee wellbeing and performance manager at Kent County Council, said the service gave it the flexibility to offer a health and wellbeing package that is accessible to all employees spread across its 1,100 locations.

“The fitness and exercise programme can be tailored to individual requirements and we hope a high proportion of our staff take this opportunity to be more active,” she said. “This facility is one of a number available to staff to help them manage and improve their wellbeing and performance.”

More than 350 people registered for the employer-paid benefit during its initial launch.