FORGET the slap-up meal or pub crawl, this Christmas you should take your workmates to the ice-rink.

That is the advice from Everyday Sport, the campaign aiming to make the North-East a healthier place to live and work.

Employers should enjoy the festive season but think about alternatives to the traditional boozy office party that will encourage staff to be fitter, not fatter, this Christmas.

Sport England, the organisation behind Everyday Sport, suggests that a visit to the annual ice skating rink, at the Centre for Life, in Newcastle, might be a fun alternative to booze-fuelled parties and lunchtime turkey dinners.

Marketing manager at the Centre for Life, Ian McGregor, said: "This year we have already seen an increased number of the region's employers embracing the healthy Christmas message by holding work parties at the ice rink.

"It is something that most of us will have thoroughly enjoyed as a child, but can still be just as much fun for grown-ups.

"The ice rink is open until 8pm every night, which enables everyone to enjoy some fun on the ice - no matter what shifts they work. And, even as a prelude to a big staff night out, there is no escaping the fact that it's over four hundred calories burned in an hour."

The Everyday Sport campaign, which was piloted in the North-East last year and then launched across the region earlier this year, gets people to build exercise into their daily routines.

That can mean climbing the stairs instead of taking the lift, or getting off the bus a stop early, to joining a sports club or registering for an exercise class.

For information, log on to www.everydaysport.com