HOSPITAL staff have been competing with each other to become Step Challenge Champions and improve their fitness.

As part of the Tees Valley Personalised Travel Planning programme, the four-week initiative involved 38 staff from across Redcar Primary Hospital.

Their challenge was to clock up the most ‘steps’ measured by a pedometer and the winning team, made up of three Physiotherapy department staff, managed to clock up almost 900,000 steps over one month.

They won £200 which they may well invest in an activity tracker each.

Colleagues Allison Sudran and Ann Marsay were joined by a third colleague who has since moved to another hospital and is planning to set up a step challenge there too.

Ms Sudran said: “Taking part in the challenge helped me realise how much I don’t move when I’m sat at my desk all day. I had to make a concerted effort to go for a walk every evening.”

Ms Marsay added: “I’m on my feet all day at work so I used to do 10,000 steps anyway but I wanted to walk more so decided to take the dog out every evening for a long trek. He loved it!”