Thrive and Connect is a revolutionary programme offering a dynamic combination of adventurous outdoor activities, mindful wellness sessions, and positive psychology practices designed to cultivate a preventive organisational wellbeing approach.

Every month, participants will be exploring different wellbeing topics through the following:

• 1.5 hour wellness webinar via Zoom
• 1 full day adventurous outdoor activity in nature
• Self-paced learning via our exclusive learning platform
• Recommended wellbeing exercises and reflection

At an individual level, participants will be able to:

• understand the foundations of wellbeing and positive psychology
• apply techniques to amplify positive emotions
• use character strengths in new and creative ways
• build stronger relationships with teammates
• develop self-confidence and resilience to overcome challenges
• cultivate a positive mindset for continuous learning and growth
• create your own action plan for better physical and mental wellbeing

At an organisational level, some of the benefits of the programme include:

• reducing employee sick leave and absenteeism
• mitigating absenteeism, presenteeism, and leavism by fostering a healthier work environment
• encouraging healthier habits and lifestyle choices among your team
• creating a workplace culture that values wellbeing and self-care

Absolutely. By participating in this programme, your investment goes beyond just employee wellbeing. You’re supporting a collaboration between MHScot Workplace Wellbeing CIC and Venturing Out CIC. MHScot aims to create healthier and happier workplaces and Venturing Out CIC aims to enable access to adventurous outdoor activities for people who would normally struggle to take part due to disability or financial hardship. Both organisations are dedicated social enterprises who reinvest surplus profits to further their social objectives. This means your investment directly contributes to our shared mission of fostering healthier, happier workplaces, supporting your organisation’s Corporate Social Responsibility objectives.

In addition to the 1.5-hour wellness webinar and 1 full day of adventurous outdoor activity each month, we recommend spending 1 to 2 hours per week on the self-paced learning material via our learning platform and doing the recommended exercises (such as the assignment question and reflection for the lesson, mindfulness practice, etc.). Of course, if you are interested in a particular topic and want to spend more time learning about it, we are more than happy to recommend additional materials to help you explore the wellbeing topic of the month.

The programme lasts for 6 months.

We will work with your team to find the most suitable schedule every month for the wellness webinar and the activity day.

This is a ‘blended’ learning programme.

• The monthly 1.5-hour wellness webinar will be delivered live via Zoom.
• The activity day will be delivered in person.
• The self-paced learning will be delivered online via our learning platform, which you can access anytime from anywhere you prefer with a good wifi connection.

There are a wide range of activities on offer and the group can decide on a multi-activity programme or have a focus on building skills in one particular activity. This can be discussed with the group at the initial session.

The activity options include Hill Walking, Bushcraft, Rock Climbing, Coasteering, Trail Cycling / Mountain Biking, and Water Activities.

The activities will take place at various locations, depending on the activity and location of the business. For some activities, the locations are fixed due to the nature of the activity, such as Rock Climbing, Coasteering and Water Activities. The venues for other activities can be flexible, such as Hill Walking, Trail Cycling and Bushcraft. We will work with your team to determine the best options.

For each activity, we will advise on what you need to wear and bring.

For all land-based activities, we would generally advise you to wear clothes you are happy to be physically active in and not mind getting a bit muddy. For footwear, we would advise wearing sturdy trainers or boots.

For all water-based activities, we can provide all the equipment you will require (wetsuits, wet boots, buoyancy aids, gloves, and helmets). For these activities, you will just need swimwear under the wetsuit and a towel.

You will be required to travel to the start points of most activities and transport is not provided as part of the programme. We can help arrange transport and provide information on the best transport options for each activity. For example, we could organise low-cost transport for your team through a local Community Transport organisation. These are not-for-profit transport service organisations.

Food will not be provided as part of the programme. However, we can help arrange catering at a reasonable price via our network of social enterprises.

Venturing Out CIC is an inclusive organisation and can make adaptations to most activities to accommodate individual needs. For some activities, such as Coasteering, a certain level of physicality is required but this can be discussed with your team at the initial meeting. We will talk participants through the activities and make adaptations as required depending on the needs and abilities of the group.

The MHScot learning platform supports mixed media content to accommodate diverse learning preferences. The platform’s Community Forum enables learners to learn from each other, catering to those who prefer social learning environments.  The content is designed with inclusivity in mind, using plain English and avoiding technical jargon. Additionally, the platform is accessible on various devices, ensuring learners can access content wherever they are, fitting learning into their lifestyle.

With a range of adaptive equipment available for outdoor activities, we can make adaptations to most activities to accommodate individual needs.

The maximum capacity for the programme is 12 participants.

The launch price for your investment will be £10,800 plus VAT for a 6-month programme. Assuming a group of 12 participants, this is equivalent to £150 plus VAT for each participant per month.

Yes, we can arrange the payment in 3 installments.

A certificate of attendance will be issued at the end of the programme.

Please get in touch with Angela Rook at angela@mentalhealthscot.land or Claire Mackenzie at claire@venturingout.org.uk