Staff at Bradford College have been honoured for taking part in the world’s largest corporate health initiative.

The Global Corporate Challenge involved 140 staff members who were among 262,000 workers worldwide who walked, cycled, swam, skipped and danced their way through the health challenge in a bid to reverse the sedentary lifestyle plaguing full-time workers.

They started the challenge in May and spent 16 weeks working together to boost their daily physical activity levels, both at work and at home.

By adopting more health-conscious lifestyle habits, Bradford College staff met the equivalent of the World Health Organization’s active lifestyle recommendation of 10,000 per steps day.

Participant York Dixon, who took 4.1 million steps, scooped a ‘Spirit of GCC’ Award, which is only given to the most dedicated participants and motivated others in the challenge.

In total 140 Bradford College staff achieved a combined 237,735,090 steps, an overall distance of 94,542 km and equating to walking around the world four times.

They burned off the equivalent of 19,970 large burgers or 59,082 glasses of red wine or 38,220 slices of cake.

The awards were presented by Stephanie Griffiths, GCC account manager, who said: “Bradford College team ranked the sixth most active organisation out of 91 education and training organisations globally."

Jonathan Curtis, Bradford College walking champion and examinations officer, said: “Many employees spend an unhealthy amount of time seated at their desks and in their cars travelling to and from work.

"We want to empower colleagues to shake up their sedentary lifestyles and incorporate some beneficial physical activity into their daily lives.

“Global Corporate Challenge provided a great way to achieve this. This initiative is part of our on-going commitment to the health and well-being of staff and students at Bradford College.”