The AAB CommonHealth Games

As lockdown continues and following on from the announcement the AAB Group has introduced a hybrid working policy, we know it is really important to keep up our team communication and activity – but another zoom quiz is a big... Read more

Blog14th Jul 2021

As lockdown continues and following on from the announcement the AAB Group has introduced a hybrid working policy, we know it is really important to keep up our team communication and activity – but another zoom quiz is a big no no!!

Our colleagues across the Group were thankfully feeling the same, and therefore the AAB CommonHealth Games began in June.

The CommonHealth Games is an event series designed to get our teams connecting, contributing and competing. With me being trusted as team captain, the Wealth team has been competing with 21 other teams across the Group, gaining points for activities such as walking, swimming, baking, gardening, cycling and crafts and bagging bonus points for distance milestones. Although the Games will be going on into September, we’ve already had a team swim the equivalent of the English Channel and other teams are getting close to climbing the equivalent of Mount Everest!

As mentioned above, this event series is all about our colleagues connecting, getting together to complete activities, getting away from their screens and making time for themselves, and AAB Wealth have certainly given it a good go so far!

We’ve taken part in golfing, baking, gardening, football and plenty of walks and runs (alongside our team dog division) and have spent time focusing on our creative skills too.

It is also worth mentioning the efforts of Alastair Moore. Alastair went for a run on New Year’s Day and thought it would be a fun challenge to see how many days in a row he could do. Fast forward 195 days and 1,586km later and he is still going. He says “It’s become a habit and part of my daily routine now, but looking back January and February were the hardest months with tired legs, cold weather and constant rain! However, the drive to keep going is sheer stubbornness in wanting to keep the daily streak alive, so much so, that I have found myself running the roads at 4am on a few occasions, just to make sure I got a run in that day. A PB here and there also helps keep me motivated!”

However, we’ve got a long way to go until the end of the Games, so we’ve caught up with the vice captains of the team, Theresa Mitchell and Ross White, to hear how they are enjoying most about the Games, what activities they have been getting up to and how they are planning on keeping the team momentum going.

Theresa

The Wealth Team have plenty of runners, walkers and dog walkers so we felt this might be where our strength lies but it turns out we’ve got excellent bakers, crafters and even song writers as well! The keen gardeners among us have earned plenty points in the garden and mine is certainly looking better as a result of the CommonHealth Games!

I’ve always ran daily and have a very lively cocker spaniel who needs at least 45 minutes walk in the evening but I’m really keen to try some yoga or meditating. My most unusual activity has to be the 3 hours of balloon blowing for my daughters 23rd birthday balloon arch – I had a well deserved wine after that!

It’s coming into proper holiday season and with more people deciding to holiday in the UK, we’re less likely to be lying on a sun lounger and much more likely to be walking, cycling or hiking around various places so that’ll help keep the momentum going! With Andy as Captain and my fellow vice-captain Ross, and all the enthusiasm across the Team, I don’t think we are in any danger of running out of steam any time soon. Our next goal is to hit a few bonus point targets!

Ross

The Games have been a great way for myself as relatively new member of the team to bond with the rest of the team and share more about what we get up to outside of work. It’s definitely led to more banter on the morning team calls, usually surrounding a bad score in my football match the previous night!

I’ve taken up football again after a few years out, and I’m hoping to keep this going into the future. I have also been learning and writing new songs on my guitar and with my band which keeps me creative!

The team have been excellent so far at getting involved, especially team captain Andy leading by example with his gardening and meditating. Momentum will keep up because I think we all enjoy the activities we do, and we’re all active people.

Our team target is to enjoy ourselves but ultimately, we will be pushing for glory – come on team!

I’ve loved captaining the team alongside Theresa and Ross so far, and it’s been an easy job as everyone has been so up for getting involved. We’ll hopefully get a few group activities planned in the next few weeks, and personally I have found it gets you that bit more motivated to do some gardening, or go for a walk, which ultimately means we’re all making more time for ourselves which can never be undervalued. Lets hope the next two months see many more points secured for the team!

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