Laura Cardwell, Managing Director of Lymm Truckwash, and her team raised nearly £1000 for mental health charities including YoungMinds, The Calm Zone, Andy’s Man Club and Heads Together during a Driver Day event.
On 29 April, Lymm Truckwash invited transport managers, company owners and industry professionals to a Driver Day event in support of mental health awareness for HGV drivers.
Over 300 trucks were washed while drivers enjoyed competitions, raffles, freebie goodie bags and industry advice. The event was an opportunity for drivers, who spend much of their week alone and have continued to work tirelessly throughout the pandemic, to network with fellow professionals and build relationships with those in the industry.
A study by mental health charity MIND found that 30% of self-reported work-related illness in the transport and logistics industry are due to stress, depression and anxiety. Research also found that many workers do not disclose the real reason for their absence - for instance, 95% of workers calling in sick due to stress give a different reason to their manager. Additionally, 22% of workers have been diagnosed with a mental ill health, but less than half of those have disclosed this to their manager.
The role itself can be isolating, with a standard working day often including long hours of intense concentration, strict time constraints, demanding delivery targets and heavy traffic conditions, combined with long periods of time away from family.
Laura Cardwell, Managing Director of Lymm Truckwash, comments “HGV drivers have always worked tirelessly to deliver essential goods up and down the country, but the pandemic has shone a light on just how important these logistics professionals are.
“Despite providing a critical service, the conditions for HGV drivers are often poor. The RHA is constantly campaigning the government to improve the facilities available for logistics professionals.
“The role can be lonely at the best of times, but lockdown has been particularly challenging as many drivers have been forced to self-isolate and shield from their families.
“We are proud supporters of RHA’s annual HGV Heroes campaign, which celebrates the hard work of road transport operators. People can nominate anyone within the industry who has gone above and beyond, which is a great way to bring the community together and boost moral on an industry-wide basis.
“In the build-up to this year’s RHA Heroes, we decided to host a Driver Day to show extra thanks to all those in the logistics industry.
“The event was a huge success, and we were able to raise £980 for four very important mental health charities, YoungMinds, The Calm Zone, Andy’s Man Club and Heads Together.”
The Driver Day event was in keeping with government restrictions, with social distancing measures in place at all times throughout the day.
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