Planning a Staff Wellbeing Day in the North East: What to Include

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Planning a staff wellbeing day can sound simple at first.

Pick a date, book a few activities, tell the team, and hope people enjoy it. But if you want the day to feel genuinely useful, it needs more than a few nice ideas dropped into the calendar.

A good employee wellbeing day should help staff pause, move, connect and take away something practical they can use in everyday working life. It should feel relevant to your team, not like a tick-box exercise.

For employers in Sunderland, Washington and across the wider North East, a staff wellbeing event can be a positive way to show people they are supported, especially when it is planned around real needs, different confidence levels and different working patterns.

At Active Families North East, our Active Workplaces help local organisations bring practical, friendly and inclusive wellbeing support into the workplace.

Start with the purpose of the day

Before choosing activities, get clear on why you are holding the day.

Is the aim to help staff manage stress?
Encourage more movement during the working day?
Bring teams together?
Offer health checks and practical guidance?
Give people a break from routine?

The strongest staff wellbeing days usually have a clear focus. They are not trying to solve everything at once. Instead, they give employees a useful mix of support, encouragement and simple ideas they can continue afterwards..

Choose activities that feel practical, not forced

A staff wellbeing day should feel accessible. Not everyone wants to take part in a high-energy session, speak in a group or be put on the spot in front of colleagues.

That is why practical, low-pressure activities often work best.

Good options can include:

A short movement or mobility session
Seated stretching for desk-based staff
A walk-and-talk break
Simple posture and movement tips
A stress management workshop
A workplace health check station
A hydration or healthy habits reminder
A calm finish with one takeaway action

The aim is not to pack the day with as much as possible. It is to choose activities that staff can actually engage with.

A short, well-delivered movement session can be more useful than a full timetable that leaves people overwhelmed. A simple health check conversation can be more meaningful than a generic presentation that does not relate to your team.

Make movement part of the day

Movement is one of the most useful things to include in a workplace wellbeing day, but it needs to be delivered in a way that feels welcoming.

For some employees, workplace activity can feel awkward. They may worry about fitness levels, mobility, confidence or taking part in front of colleagues. Keeping movement simple and inclusive helps more people feel able to join in.

This could include:

Gentle stretching
Seated or standing mobility
Breathing and movement
Light strength exercises
A short energiser session
A group walk
Desk-based movement ideas

These sessions do not need to be long. Even 10 or 15 minutes can help people step away from screens, reset their energy and think differently about movement during the working day.

The key is to make it clear that people can take part at their own pace.

Through our workplace wellbeing , Active Families NE supports employers with friendly movement sessions, workplace health checks, stress management workshops and practical in-house staff wellbeing support.

Build in time for connection

A useful staff wellbeing day is not only about activities. It is also about connection.

Many teams are busy, stretched or working across different locations. Some staff may rarely get time to speak properly outside of everyday tasks. A wellbeing day can create space for people to pause and reconnect in a relaxed way.

This does not need to be complicated.

You could include:

A shared lunch
A tea and chat session
A walk-and-talk activity
Small group discussions
A relaxed end-of-day reflection
Time for staff to share simple wellbeing ideas

These moments help the day feel more human. They also reflect what wellbeing is really about: not just individual habits, but feeling supported, included and connected at work.

That community-led approach is central to Active Families North East. You can learn more about us and the wider work we do across local communities.

Make it inclusive for different roles and working patterns

One of the biggest mistakes employers can make is planning a wellbeing event around only one type of employee.

A session that works for office-based staff may not work for shift workers. A full-day format may not suit part-time staff. A physical activity may need seated or lower-impact options so more people can take part comfortably.

Before finalising your plan, think about:

shift patterns
job roles
mobility needs
confidence levels
workload pressures
quiet spaces
staff who may not want to join group activities
teams based across different sites

Inclusivity does not mean making the day complicated. It means giving people different ways to engage.

That might mean offering drop-in health checks, shorter sessions, seated options, small group workshops or a mix of active and calmer activities.

A wellbeing day works best when staff feel invited, not pressured.

Avoid making it a one-off gesture

A staff wellbeing day can be a brilliant starting point, but it should not feel like the only wellbeing support employees ever receive.

To make the day more meaningful, think about what happens afterwards.

Could staff take away one small movement habit?
Could managers encourage regular walking breaks?
Could health checks be repeated later in the year?
Could a stress management session lead to wider support?
Could you ask the staff what they would find useful next?

A good wellbeing day should open the door to better habits and better conversations.

It does not need to be perfect. But it should feel genuine, practical and connected to your wider workplace culture.

If you are looking at wider staff support, you can also see our programmes to understand how Active Families NE supports different groups across the North East.

A simple example of a staff wellbeing day

Every workplace is different, but a simple structure could look like this:

Morning welcome
Start with a short introduction explaining the purpose of the day and how staff can take part.

Gentle movement session
Offer a short, accessible movement or stretching session to help people loosen up and reset.

Health check or wellbeing station
Give staff the chance to have a simple health check, ask questions or pick up practical wellbeing tips.

Stress management workshop
Run a short session focused on realistic ways to manage pressure during the working day.

Lunch or connection break
Create space for staff to step away from work, hydrate, eat and chat.

Afternoon takeaway session
End with simple actions staff can try after the day, such as movement breaks, posture resets or small wellbeing goals.

This kind of structure keeps the day balanced. It gives people time to move, reflect, learn and connect without making the day feel too packed.