For National Walking Month we're Celebrating Port of Tyne's Step Towards Better Wellbeing

May 2025 is National Walking Month, a time to step outside, stretch our legs, increase our step count, and boost our wellbeing. And there’s no better example of a fantastic wellbeing challenge than Port of Tyne's Lockdown Challenge that the team created a few years ago, during the pandemic.

As part of their continued focus on employee wellbeing, Port of Tyne launched an innovative walking challenge through their Thrive employee app. Designed to bring staff together, wherever they were based, this initiative proved that small steps can lead to big impact.

With over 400 employees, many of whom work across different sites and shifts, Port of Tyne look at ways to connect everyone, physically and socially. Their Thrive app provided the perfect platform to run a virtual walking challenge, tracking steps, sharing updates, and building camaraderie during lockdown and beyond.

Employees were encouraged to get moving, log their steps, and support one another through the app’s interactive features. Whether walking to clear their head after a shift, or getting outdoors on lunch breaks, the challenge became a unifying experience during a time of physical separation.

The Port of Tyne’s Lockdown Challenge was a virtual triathlon from Newcastle to Australia. Employees were encouraged to use their daily lockdown exercise time to participate, by either running, cycling or walking, then recording the total amount of miles travelled each day by them and their families.

After their daily exercise, they accessed their Thrive employee app named 'Portall' and recorded their progress on an embedded web form. The app admins then downloaded a daily report and added up the totals from everyone’s submissions. This allowed them to add a daily update to show everyone the total distance travelled from Newcastle in the UK, with the target being 10,437 miles to Newcastle in Australia! The daily updates were a great way to visualise just how much effort everyone was putting into the challenge. 

At the time, Port of Tyne also used Thrive’s User Generated Content feature to have a Lockdown Challenge gallery, for employees to upload photos of themselves and their families participating in the challenge. This was a great idea so that everyone could see their colleagues participating, and they could comment on each other’s posts to stay in touch during the lockdown. Some shared pictures from their walks, while others shared route maps and achievement screenshots from their fitness apps. All of these posts come together to show everyone that even during the lockdown they’re were still together and still a team.

As well as for camaraderie and raising spirits, the Port of Tyne also ran their Lockdown Challenge as a way to raise money for NHS Charities, to support the Covid-19 NHS appeal – a fantastic and worthy cause in the midst of such challenging times. They included the link to their JustGiving page in the Lockdown Challenge section of the app, so that their employees could see how much had been raised and boost the donations by sharing the link on their own social media channels and with family and friends.

Not only did the challenge support physical activity, but it also played a vital role in boosting morale and team spirit. The Thrive employee app’s ease of use meant high engagement, with colleagues cheering each other on, sharing photos, and celebrating milestones, all within Thrive's secure, digital space.

The app content admins could also use the app to communicate health tips, event updates, and wellbeing content, making it a central hub for connection and motivation.

Port of Tyne’s walking challenge is a great reminder that wellbeing doesn’t need to be complex. Sometimes, a simple step challenge, delivered through the right platform can go a long way toward improving connection and health across the workforce.

As we celebrate National Walking Month, we’re inspired by Port of Tyne’s creative and committed approach to employee wellbeing. Here’s to more organisations taking a walk in their footsteps!