Phil Broad, Senior Vice President at Alghanim Industries Kuwait, came up with the idea of the Friday Wellness Walk three years ago. The activity involved walking 10k steps from Marina Mall to the end of Gulf Street in Kuwait. This activity has inspired many in the company, and so far approximately 150 such walks have been conducted. The Wellness Walk starts every Friday at 6 am in summer and 7 am in the winter, with an average attendance of 30 to 60 people.

This initiative started in Kuwait and has now spread to Oman, KSA, UAE, and Qatar (five countries in total). This walk involves various awareness campaigns such prostate cancer, breast cancer, and more. One of the most important features of the walk is contribution towards sustainability in the form of a beach cleanup activity during half of the walk. It gets employees out of their accommodation during a weekend (Friday is the weekend in Kuwait) early morning to support this noble cause.

The only permission required was for the beach cleanup from Marina Crescent management. Multiple benefits have been observed such as colleagues losing up to 10 kgs, and many employees experienced measurable improvement in their quality of life. This activity also helps in building relationships; for example, having coffee together at the end of the walk allows multiple conversations to take place in an informal environment. Moreover, the overall contribution to environment in terms of the beach cleanup adds positivity to the attitude and makes us all aware of the consequences of our actions.

Businesses today must get involved and lead by example, especially when it comes to saving the environment. Teams should build positive culture and responsibility towards caring for the environment around us. It is relatively easy to start an initiative, no matter how small, in your local vicinity—be it office or city. Slowly and steadily, it will grow and become big, and the impact will become very clear. For example, our Friday Wellness walk started in Kuwait but now is a regular activity in five countries and in multiple cities. Customers these days also like to associate with businesses who are well aware and are ready to contribute to sustainability initiative. This gives them a sense of purpose.