Charlton House, part of the CH&Co Group, has been recognised as part of the Royal Society for Public Health’s (RSPH) annual Health and Wellbeing Awards for its work to promote health and wellbeing.
Charlton House is the only contract catering company to have won a prestigious RSPH Health and Wellbeing award and the company’s focus has been driven by Caroline Fry, Deputy CEO of CH&Co Group. The recognition is for their ongoing work across Charlton House that gives a strong focus to health and wellbeing for the many tens of thousands of customers they provide food to every day. The award is also for their Passport to Health initiative that they have been running as part of the employee dining services at Gatwick Airport.
Achievements in the promotion of health and wellbeing
The Health and Wellbeing Awards recognise achievements in the promotion of health and wellbeing through activities, policies and strategies which empower communities and individuals, improve the population’s health, and address the wider social determinants of health.
Amanda Ursell, consultant nutritionist to Charlton House, explained that there were a number of unique elements of their service at Gatwick Airport that impressed the judges, “We worked with the Gatwick Occupational Health and Wellbeing team to design and deliver a 12-week pilot wellbeing programme for employees, which saw significant reductions in blood glucose and total cholesterol levels along with body weight and waist circumference plus an improvement in happiness and sleep quality.
“The amazing catering team at the airport supported us with Passport to Health options in the restaurants, including the ‘Grill-Up’ alternative to the traditional ‘Fry-Up’ cooked breakfast, nutritionally balanced ‘Grab and Fly’ food bags for crew members, designed specifically to be able to be taken air-side, a range of healthy, calorie counted sandwiches, wraps, soups and salads, ‘bang and shake’ chips, ordered-ahead evening meals for employees working shifts and healthy eating messaging, which were there to support all employees, whether involved in the pilot or not.
“These activities were supported by our company-wide wellbeing initiatives, crucial to which is our Chef’s Nutrition Course, which has now been attended by over 150 head chefs and chef managers within the company.”
Paul Honey, Managing Director of Charlton House, added, “We work hard at promoting healthy eating and lifestyle within the company and our initiatives have been proven to have had a positive impact. We’ve liaised very closely with our clients at Gatwick Airport to develop and refine our Passport To Health programme and it’s really encouraging for the whole team to win such a prestigious award. Healthy eating and lifestyle is embedded in our culture and it’s fantastic to be recognised externally in this way.”
The scheme receives submissions from all organisations that promote health and wellbeing as part of commissioning, operational support or service delivery. Local authorities, health organisations, education providers, social enterprises, voluntary/charity organisations and private sector organisations in the UK are all invited to apply. RSPH also encourage applications from organisations who deliver health improvement for their own workforce and who demonstrate a commitment to employee wellbeing.
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