How Gaspol United Well-Being, Sustainability, and Team Building Under One Sports Challenge with Activy

Gaspol, part of the international SHV holding group, is an organization with a dispersed structure - multiple locations across Poland, offices, LPG bottling plants, and field sales teams. Like many companies, their HR department was running a variety of well-being initiatives: mindfulness sessions, webinars with dietitians and physiotherapists, mental health workshops. Each lived in its own silo, and the calendar was bursting at the seams.

The breakthrough came in the spring of 2024 - quite literally on the street. A Gaspol employee was riding a company e-bike through Warsaw's Wola district. Basia Jakubowska from Activy spotted them at a traffic light. A few LinkedIn messages later, the first meeting took place, followed by a pilot program during Activy's Olympic Challenge with 25 Gaspol employees.

"After that pilot, we knew this was something great. We were convinced that in 2025, we'd go full scale," recalls Julia Sacher, HR Specialist at Gaspol.

Five goals under one roof

On May 1, 2025, Gaspol launched its full-scale sports challenge - unofficially dubbed the "bikini challenge." Planned for two months, it eventually grew into three editions (May–June and October). But what set Gaspol apart wasn't the program's length - it was the number of strategic goals they managed to address through a single initiative.

‍Employee well-being - instead of more webinars, employees got a tool for daily physical activity. According to Activy's report surveying over 1,000 employees, 76% prefer to be physically active after work rather than attend another online session. Gaspol hit that need head-on.

Carbon footprint reduction - the challenge launched around Earth Week (April). Thanks to participants' activity, the CO2 savings equaled a round-trip flight from Warsaw to New York. Employees could track their individual and collective results directly in the Activy app.

E-bike promotion - Gaspol operates a fleet of 28 e-bikes available not just on weekdays but also on weekends and during vacations. Over two months, employees rode over 13,500 km on them. The company introduced an "e-bike ambassador" title and bonus points for active commuting.

Charitable goals - kilometers were converted into financial support for two foundations chosen by the employees themselves: Fundacja Słoneczko (supporting neurodiverse children) and Las na Zawsze (environmental protection). Both foundations also led educational webinars, expanding the program into social and environmental awareness.

Team integration - in a dispersed organization, a private Teams chat was created that quickly came alive with memes, photos from running trails, and spontaneous group walks during business trips.

As one external trainer observed: "Before dinner, everyone went for a walk together. I've seen similar initiatives at other companies, but I've never seen anything come alive like this."

Numbers that speak for themselves

After the first edition:

• 91% of participants said the challenge positively impacted their health and well-being
• 91% of participants felt more connected with their coworkers
• 45% of participants reported increased productivity at work
• 13,500+ km covered on e-bikes in just two months

Sporty Autumn: when Health & Safety knocked on HR's door

After a positive wrap-up of the summer challenge, the idea for continuation came from an unexpected place - the Health & Safety department, which proposed collaboration during Health & Safety Week. This gave birth to "Gaspol's Sporty Autumn" under the theme "Mind & Prevention."

The October edition combined physical activity with thematic missions: workplace safety, mental health (marking World Mental Health Day), Pink October, and Movember. The coordinators leveraged Activy's educational materials, organizing a cancer prevention webinar for the entire company - not just challenge participants.

"Thanks to one investment - the challenge - we didn't need to spend additional budget on webinars about forests, neurodiversity, or cancer prevention. We made the most of what was already there," summarizes Julia Sacher.

What worked - Gaspol's keys to success

Pilot before full rollout - three weeks in Activy's Olympic Challenge gave coordinators app expertise and a group of ambassadors who later drove sign-ups.

Authentic leadership support - Gaspol's CEO spontaneously engaged the board, forcing a quick rule change (from 5- to 7-person teams). It wasn't staged - and that's exactly why it worked.

Multi-channel communication - intranet, internal social media, a promotional e-bike video, an inaugural webinar with Activy, and a dedicated Teams chat. Frequent, diverse, and moderated.

No material prizes announced upfront - instead of promising valuable rewards, the messaging focused on benefits: health, well-being, charitable impact. Symbolic gifts (sports bags, backpacks) appeared only at the end, as a pleasant surprise.

Missions as an engagement tool - in the second month, weekly missions were introduced (charity, cycling, mindfulness, team, and sustainability themes) that refreshed the format and boosted activity.

Advice from the coordinators

"It's worth meeting with Activy and exploring the different features - missions, bonus points, tracking capabilities. Then you can adapt them to your needs. Not everything has to happen all at once." - Julia Sacher

"We didn't look far. We simply took what was already in the company - strategic goals, the events calendar - and wrapped the challenge around it." - Katarzyna Szymborska

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This article is based on the "Gaspol Case Study" webinar featuring Julia Sacher and Katarzyna Szymborska from Gaspol, hosted by Julia from Activy (March 2026), link.

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