Sea Swimming, Step Counting – May at DI
Mollie Brown
O the month of May, the merry month of May!
We have definitely been very merry and very busy here at Data Intellect: books, golf, massages, running into the sea at 7am, and even baps.
Read on to find out more.
Charity Golf Day
On the 5th May, we attended a charity golf day at Roe Park Resort in Limavady. The day was brilliantly organised by NI Hospice, a local charity providing specialist palliative care to people living with life-limiting and life-threatening illnesses.
Despite this being Northern Ireland in the grip of springtime, the golfers managed to avoid rain for most of the day and even saw a bit of sunshine.
We had 7 golfers participating, sporting brand new Data Intellect tshirts. There was a great selection of event prizes on offer, although unfortunately none of the Data Intellect golfers were good enough to win any! Luckily they could commiserate after the final hole with a two course meal and a pint, and had a great day's fun. Though maybe some more practice is in order for next years golf event...
Congratulations to Sean on your wooden spoon, and to Simon for actually being good at golf.
Despite this being Northern Ireland in the grip of springtime, the golfers managed to avoid rain for most of the day and even saw a bit of sunshine.
We had 7 golfers participating, sporting brand new Data Intellect tshirts. There was a great selection of event prizes on offer, although unfortunately none of the Data Intellect golfers were good enough to win any! Luckily they could commiserate after the final hole with a two course meal and a pint, and had a great day's fun. Though maybe some more practice is in order for next years golf event...
Congratulations to Sean on your wooden spoon, and to Simon for actually being good at golf.
Mental Health Awareness Week
May is Mental Health Awareness month and an ideal time for us all to think about mental health, tackle stigma, and find out how we can create a society that protects our mental well-being. We held a whole week of mental health focused events, both in office and online.
- All throughout the week Sloan’s Gym were offering all Data Intellect employees free access to the gym - which is located only a 30 second walk from the Belfast office!
- On Monday, we kicked off Mental Health Awareness week with a morning meditation session, which was repeated later in the day for those in different timezones (or just non-morning people)
- On Tuesday, we had a Zen Zone set up in the social area of the Belfast HQ with colouring and puzzles.
- All throughout the week Sloan’s Gym were offering all Data Intellect employees free access to the gym - which is located only a 30 second walk from the Belfast office!
- On Monday, we kicked off Mental Health Awareness week with a morning meditation session, which was repeated later in the day for those in different timezones (or just non-morning people)
- On Tuesday, we had a Zen Zone set up in the social area of the Belfast HQ with colouring and puzzles.
Wednesday: Wellness Day
The midpoint of the week was for a "wellness day". We know everybody gets anxious or stressed and sometimes you just need a bit of extra pampering and relaxation to get you through the week, so we had a very special wellness day planned in the Belfast office!
We had a mixture of group and 121 sessions, which covered:
- Physical therapy (including massage, reflexology and reiki)
- Group acupuncture
- Group mindfulness
There were also some take home goodie bags available to all in the office with some information on different places to get help as well as some little surprises to help stay relaxed in this stressful world!
Big big thank you to Diane from the Belfast based mental health charity Extern- the reason this wellness day was possible. Diane and Extern offer amazing help throughout all groups and communities in Belfast, working to improve lives.
We had a mixture of group and 121 sessions, which covered:
- Physical therapy (including massage, reflexology and reiki)
- Group acupuncture
- Group mindfulness
There were also some take home goodie bags available to all in the office with some information on different places to get help as well as some little surprises to help stay relaxed in this stressful world!
Big big thank you to Diane from the Belfast based mental health charity Extern- the reason this wellness day was possible. Diane and Extern offer amazing help throughout all groups and communities in Belfast, working to improve lives.
Thursday: Breakfast in the office!
Thursday: Breakfast in the office!
Thursday: Breakfast in the office!
Friday: Sea Dip
On Friday morning, a very brave group met at 7.30 at Helen's Bay for some cold-water therapy.
Despite the screaming and Jamie's claim's of heart failure, I'm pleased to announce everyone survived (evidence attached).
Despite the screaming and Jamie's claim's of heart failure, I'm pleased to announce everyone survived (evidence attached).
Walking to Wellness
Mental Health Week activities continued into the weekend with teams all over the world meeting up to go for a walk (which was great for their progress on the walking challenge - more details on that below).
There was a walk from Dragon's to Big Wave Bay in Hong Kong, a walk up Cave Hill in Belfast and a walk around Central Park in New York.
Also special shout out to David Denmer: well done for your First Responder Walk for Wellness!
We hope this week encouraged everyone to consider their mental health and provided tools to take a break, not just this week but throughout the year.
There was a walk from Dragon's to Big Wave Bay in Hong Kong, a walk up Cave Hill in Belfast and a walk around Central Park in New York.
Also special shout out to David Denmer: well done for your First Responder Walk for Wellness!
We hope this week encouraged everyone to consider their mental health and provided tools to take a break, not just this week but throughout the year.
Walking Challenge
100 miles in May
May is National Walking Month! If you haven't noticed by now there is a specific day or month or week for everything these days, and this is where we get most of our ideas.
Anyway, there’s no better time to kick off our 2023 walking challenge, with the goal for everyone in the company to collectively walk through our community of Data Intellect employees- i.e. walking from Vancouver to Hong Kong. To do this, every individual had to walk 100 miles in May - challenge accepted!
Anyway, there’s no better time to kick off our 2023 walking challenge, with the goal for everyone in the company to collectively walk through our community of Data Intellect employees- i.e. walking from Vancouver to Hong Kong. To do this, every individual had to walk 100 miles in May - challenge accepted!
Raising money for food banks
This year our walking challenge had a charitable spin. A survey of the staff indicated that as a company we collectively want to support local food banks! Data Intellect will match donations raised for this event, and the total raised will be split across regional food banks.
Book Club
Also launching this month is Data Intellect's very own book club!
The club meets once a quarter to review the book we have been reading and select a new book, as well as enjoy some wine/tea/tequila (mockingbird)!
The first book chosen was Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton. We will be meeting again around the end of the summer (or earlier if everyone is a speed reader and finishes the book by then) in order to discuss the book and choose a new book to read.
The club meets once a quarter to review the book we have been reading and select a new book, as well as enjoy some wine/tea/tequila (mockingbird)!
The first book chosen was Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton. We will be meeting again around the end of the summer (or earlier if everyone is a speed reader and finishes the book by then) in order to discuss the book and choose a new book to read.
Axe Throwing
Our Q2 Team Challenge is all about axe throwing! Teams within Data Intellect can spend their quarterly budget to meet up and chuck some axes around. As always, we have a healthy competitive spirit and there is a leaderboard, with the winning team at the end of the quarter being showered with prizes.
This quarter's competition ends at the end of JUNE so only a month left! (yes, I am horrified it's already nearly June! what happened to all the other months of the year?)
Over the last few weeks, we have had multiple teams attempt to knock Great Axepections off their seat at the top of the leaderboard, however none of the teams were successful at taking the lead! Who knows where things will stand in a mnth...
Here is the leaderboard as it currently stands
Great Axepectations - 22.75
Bowling HK - 21.16
Di-abolicals - 20.38
Di-ehards - 19.86
Data Intellaxe - 18.71
METEORITE - 12.20
This quarter's competition ends at the end of JUNE so only a month left! (yes, I am horrified it's already nearly June! what happened to all the other months of the year?)
Over the last few weeks, we have had multiple teams attempt to knock Great Axepections off their seat at the top of the leaderboard, however none of the teams were successful at taking the lead! Who knows where things will stand in a mnth...
Here is the leaderboard as it currently stands
Great Axepectations - 22.75
Bowling HK - 21.16
Di-abolicals - 20.38
Di-ehards - 19.86
Data Intellaxe - 18.71
METEORITE - 12.20
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