Wellness Week ideas.
Wellness Week ideas for staff.
A good Wellness Week isn’t a fruit bowl and a lunchtime talk nobody goes to. It’s a few things people would choose to do anyway, made easy. Here are fifteen ideas that work for Irish teams, in the office or spread out.
Guide · Updated
Before you plan anything
- Ask first. A two-question survey (what would you go to, and when) beats guessing.
- Make it in work time. Asking people to give up an evening turns a benefit into a chore.
- Make it optional and private. No leaderboards for steps or weight, and nobody has to say why they skipped something.
- Include people who aren’t in the office. Anything you run should have a version for remote and shift staff.
Outdoors
- A team sauna and sea swim. Book a local sauna for the team for an hour. People sit in the heat, dip in the sea or a cold plunge if they want to, and talk. See what a team sauna session is like.
- A walking meeting week. Any one-to-one that doesn’t need a screen happens outside.
- A guided coastal or forest walk. A local guide makes it an outing, not exercise.
- A lunchtime run or walk club. Start it in Wellness Week and see if it keeps going.
- A park clean-up or tree planting. Fresh air, something useful, and easy conversation.
Social
- A long team lunch. Paid for, away from desks, with no agenda.
- A cooking class. Learning a few quick, healthy dinners is more useful than another leaflet.
- A swap shop. Books, plants and clothes. It costs nothing and people talk.
- A coffee roulette. Pair people across teams for a 20-minute coffee.
Quiet
- A no-meeting afternoon. The simplest one, and often the most popular.
- A short mindfulness or breathing class. Keep it short, practical and optional.
- A sauna voucher for everyone. For staff who would rather go on their own time, a voucher for a sauna near home, under the small benefit exemption.
Practical
- A free health check. Blood pressure and cholesterol checks from a nurse or pharmacist on site.
- A money talk. Pensions, mortgages and budgeting from someone independent, not selling anything.
- A reminder of what’s already there. Your Employee Assistance Programme, sick leave and flexible working, explained in one plain page.
When to hold it
There’s no single official date, so choose a week that suits your team. Some fixed points help: Ireland Active runs National Workplace Wellbeing Day each spring, World Mental Health Day is on 10 October, and January works well for anything that helps people through the darkest weeks. Avoid your busiest week of the year.
Keep it going
One good week matters less than what’s still running in March. Pick one or two things people liked, such as the walk club or a monthly team sauna, and keep them.
Booking a team sauna with Olladay
Olladay is booking software for independent saunas in Ireland and the UK. Tell us where your staff are and when your Wellness Week is, and we’ll reply with the saunas near them, what they offer and the prices. You book and pay the sauna directly, with an invoice in its name.
Questions
When is Wellness Week in Ireland?
There isn’t one fixed national week. Most companies choose their own. Ireland Active runs National Workplace Wellbeing Day each spring, and World Mental Health Day is 10 October.
How much should a Wellness Week cost?
It can cost almost nothing: a no-meeting afternoon, a walk club and a swap shop are free. Paid activities such as a team sauna or a cooking class usually cost €15 to €40 a head.
How do we include remote staff?
Give every activity a version people can do where they are, such as a sauna voucher for a sauna near home, a walk at the same time, or a recorded talk.