What we got up to for National Workplace Wellbeing Day

May 8, 2026

Wednesday 29 April was National Workplace Wellbeing Day, and rather than mark it with a single event, we spread it across the whole team at Be Independent Home Care. Here is what the day looked like.

A wellness breakfast in the Northside office

We kicked off in our Northside office with a proper wellness breakfast. Fresh fruit, healthy options, and a chance for the team to sit down together before the day got going. Not a screen in sight for the first hour, which felt like the right way to start.

Fruit hampers in every office

Every BIHC office, north and south, got a fruit hamper delivered on the day. A small thing, but it set the tone, and most of them were demolished by lunchtime.

Two webinars for the management team

The management team joined two webinars during the day, both worth flagging.

The first was the SME WellBusiness Charter webinar with Chambers Ireland, with Gerry Hussey speaking in the second half. Practical, grounded, and a useful reminder that workplace wellbeing has to be designed in, not bolted on.

The second was Shine’s Mentally Healthy Workplace session, focused on creating environments where people can talk about mental health without the awkwardness that usually surrounds it. Particularly relevant in homecare, where carers are often working alone and the pressures aren’t always visible.

The Wellbeing Cookbook

The big team-wide piece of the day was our Wellbeing Cookbook. A few weeks before, we asked everyone to share a healthy recipe they actually make at home. Quick weeknight dinners. The lunch a carer takes on a long shift. Smoothies for the school run.

Twenty colleagues sent in twenty-three recipes. We pulled them all together into the cookbook, sent it out to every member of staff on the day, and asked the team to vote for their favourite.

And the winner is...

Congratulations to Nova Alphons Shaji, whose Creamy Garlic Mushrooms on Toast was voted favourite recipe by the team. A five-minute breakfast that punches well above its weight, and clearly struck a chord with the people who tried it.

Nova’s prize is on its way, along with a small certificate to mark the win.

Why we did it the way we did

Working in homecare is demanding. Our carers spend their days looking after other people, often eating in the car between calls or grabbing whatever’s quickest at home. Asking the team to share what they actually cook, on their actual schedules, felt more useful than another wellbeing webinar pointed at staff. The webinars we did do were aimed at the management team, where the responsibility for keeping the workplace healthy really sits.

A breakfast, a fruit hamper, twenty-three recipes from twenty colleagues, and two sessions for the people running the business. That was the day.

Thanks to everyone who took part. More from us on wellbeing later in the year.