On Tuesday, June 25, Brock employees enjoyed a variety of wellness activities, from pickleball and crocheting to board games and a butterfly conservatory.
The University’s annual Employee Wellness Day brought together around 700 participants to explore a range of activities to promote all-round wellness and connection among colleagues.
The day began with Dean of the Faculty of Music Karin Di Bella delivering a personal land acknowledgment, followed by opening remarks from Brock University President and Vice-Chancellor Leslie Rigg to the crowd gathered in the Rankin Family Pavilion.
Employees then had the opportunity to choose from around 90 workshops and activities, including painting, yoga, forest therapy and volunteering in the local community.
Jasmine Little (right), sponsored research and in-house programs manager for the Office of Research Services, accepts the annual Health, Safety and Wellness Champion award from James Isegayan, Bloch’s director of health, safety and wellness.
As an effort to give back, donations of non-perishable food items were collected prior to and during Wellness Day to support Community Care.
The day-long event concluded with attendees coming together for a closing ceremony to present Brock’s fifth annual Health, Safety and Wellness Champion Awards. This year’s recipient was Jasmine Little, manager of sponsored research and in-house programs in the Office of Research Services.
“I am truly honored to receive this award,” Little said. “Promoting health, safety and wellness is very important to me and I believe it is essential to creating a positive and supportive environment at Brock University.”
Little was recognized for her outstanding leadership and dedication in promoting health and wellness within the Office of Research Services, where she has demonstrated an unwavering commitment to supporting the health of her team. She does this by proactively working to protect staff time and helping team members establish a healthy work-life balance, with the goal of preventing burnout.
Little also advocates for regularly sharing lessons learned from the Working Minds Framework and related training, and for team members to attend the training and establish a common language for discussing wellness issues.
“I hope to promote the health, safety and wellness of others by fostering a culture where all team members feel truly valued and cared for,” she says. “By leading with empathy, offering support and encouraging open communication, we can ensure these principles are integral to our daily lives and communities.”
The Wellness Day raffle drew 68 prizes and raised $4,000 to support Student Prizes. Winning ticket numbers and prize claim instructions can be found on the Wellness Day SharePoint page.
Next month, Wellness Day participants will receive an email from Brock’s Office of People and Culture inviting them to take an online survey. Feedback gathered from the survey will help plan future Wellness Day events.
If you would like to share photos from your day, please email wellnessday@brocku.ca and include the session or activity and, if possible, the names of individuals in the photos.
