At the beginning of February, the winners of the ‘Capture the moment’ winter wellbeing photography competition were presented with their prizes. The presentation took place at a healthy eating event run by the Staff Wellbeing team in collaboration with The Campus Kitchen team.

Staff had been invited to submit their photos in 3 different categories: Nature, Colour and Comedy. 57 photos were entered and the winners were chosen by Weronika Rudy and Aaron Imran Rudy, respectively Digital Content Lead within the University’s Student Communications team and Video Producer in the Brand team. Judging was a challenging task with such quality images to choose from.

The winners were:

• Nature: Natasha Vukovic, Senior Research Fellow. The judges said: “This photo really stood out to us. It has real depth and narrative behind it.”
• Colour: David Wright. The judges commented: “Photography is often about stumbling across fleeting moments of magic… and this perfectly encapsulates that!”
• Comedy: Alan Gibson, Research Technician. The judges said: “[This photo] is a great example of finding humour and joy in little, accidental moments.”
• Honourable mention: Jake Lewis, Teaching Laboratory Technician. The judges said: “We love that you were able to capture the duckling flapping its wings and there’s some nice symbolism there”

Take a look at all the entries that were submitted.

After the prizes were presented, attendees were treated to a live cookery demonstration by Lewis Huggins, Senior Sous Chef at the University’s award-winning Blue Room restaurant. He had been given the brief of cooking something warming and comforting in gloomy weather that people could re-create at home. The pumpkin risotto did not disappoint!

Once he had shown the audience how to make it, everyone was able to sample the dish, as well as fruit smoothies provided by the Jubilee Café where the event was held. Take a look at the recipe for the risotto and other healthy meals in the Healthy Recipe Book.

The photography competition and the healthy food event were two of the activities that made up the University’s winter wellbeing campaign to support staff wellbeing. Each activity was based on the five ways to wellbeing:

• Give – Gift donations for care leavers
• Notice – ‘Capture the moment’ photography competition
• Connect – Connect over healthy food cookery event
• Learn – Weekly newsletter with learning resources and tips to learn something new
• Move – Nordic walking taster sessions and a Staff Active for Wellbeing 5-week course

Richard Bell, Health and Safety Manager (Wellbeing), said: “Winter can be a difficult time. It can feel harder to take care of yourself and that can impact your mood. We’re pleased that staff have taken part in these activities and the feedback has been really positive.”

A selection of the things we heard from staff about the winter wellbeing events:

• “I also wanted to say how much I appreciate the wellbeing activities you organize for staff – it means a lot.”
• “Thank you for bringing some colour and light to a VERY dull January!”
• “I felt better afterwards.”
• “[It was] nice to engage with different colleagues.”
• “Great to learn a new skill, while getting outside and meeting new people”

Find out more about wellbeing support for staff that is available all year round by visiting the dedicated Wellbeing Sharepoint site.

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