Council Teams Tour the World in Corporate Challenge

Almost 50 Council staff and members of the Eastleigh Cabinet are currently walking and cycling around the world – virtually.

The Global Corporate Challenge started last month on 22 May, and competitors have until 23 September to complete the 16,000 kilometre course.  Team members must record the number of steps they have taken each day and log on to the special website to check their progress.  The site calculates individual step count, the number of calories burnt and the teams overall progress on its virtual tour of the world.

Eastleigh Borough Council has entered seven of the seven member teams.  They are representing staff from the Countryside Unit, from the Hedge End Depot, several groups from within the Civic Offices and the seven councillors who make up the Borough Council’s cabinet.  But pride of place goes to the team of civil enforcement officers – parking attendants who are currently lying 20th in the world rankings having covered a distance of 1882 miles or 3030 kms or 4,734,829 steps.  Another good performance is being put in by the Hedge End Depot team who are in 304th position with 1305 miles (2102 kms).

Worldwide some 7086 teams involving almost 50,000 individuals have entered the challenge and include corporate teams covering half the Australian Police Forces and household names such as Bosch, Cadburys, Nestlé and American giants Heinz.

Eastleigh’s cabinet member for health Cathie Fraser stresses the importance of the event for highlighting and improving our health and wellbeing.  “The Global Corporate Challenge is a great way to combine exercise and fun – and we get to enjoy a virtual tour of some fascinating world locations.  I know the cabinet team is a bit lower in the rankings than it should be but we are increasing our efforts and our position is improving.  You only need a small lifestyle change to improve your health.  But I must make special mention of our team of civil enforcement staff who are clearly amongst the best in the world when it comes to keeping fit and active.  We’re sure they will be maintaining a strong challenge for top spot.”

There are no prizes but the team that completes the challenge first will be awarded the title of Global Corporate Challenge Champions for 2008 and will have the satisfaction of knowing that they beat other corporate teams from around the world.  Check the progress of the teams on www.gcc2008.com

Consensus among health professionals is that completing 10,000 steps a day has a positive effect on people’s health, helps reduce cholesterol, blood pressure and some types of diabetes.

The Borough Council’s Civic Enforcement Officers stride out in the 2008 Global Corporate Challenge