Bartec Partners with Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council and Andy’s Man Club to Spread Awareness of Men’s Mental Health Charity
We’re excited and honoured to announce our latest partnership with Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council and Andy’s Man Club on a wrapped bin lorry to help spread awareness of the support available to men through the UK-wide men’s mental health and suicide prevention charity Andy’s Man Club.
On Monday 12th May, 150 crew members attended the unveiling of their new vehicle wrap and a Toolbox Talk featuring a local Andy’s Man Club representative. Bartec Municipal Technologies sponsored a catering truck to provide lunch to all the attendees.
Julie Copestake and the team at Newcastle-under-Lyme had worked alongside Sandy Anderson from Fife Council to replicate the already successful roll out of Andy’s Man Club vinyl wrapped bin lorries in Fife. Sandy has lost several of his team over the past 5 years and decided to take action with Andy’s Man Club.
Replicating Fife Council Success with Wrapped Bin Lorries for Andy’s Man Club
Sandy’s idea was to use the cabs of his bin trucks to promote Andy’s Man Club, both internally to his team and to the people of Fife. Bin trucks cover almost all the streets in Fife each week, so they are highly visible and eye-catching. He was able to get various parties to fund the work and used the initiative as a means to run internal promotion and events.
Following that, Sandy presented at our BUG event and Newcastle-under-Lyme asked us to fund a similar wrap. We were delighted to do that and also funded a food wagon at the launch event.
That launch event was highly attended (free food always works!) and the local Andy’s Man Club rep spoke to the workforce to give the whole thing some initial momentum.
We now have other authorities interested and are building a ’standard offer’ as our social value offering to our customers.
You can watch Bartec CEO Tim Hobbs’ interview with Sandy Anderson here.
Recognising Mental Health Challenges in Waste Management
While exact statistics on how many of those working in Waste Management suffer from mental health challenges are limited, some independent studies have shown that heavy industry workers tend to struggle more compared to other industries.
Pirtek’s Under the Hard Hat Campaign surveyed 343 individuals who work in engineering, marine and port, manufacturing, waste management, and mining and quarrying. The research showed:
- 94% of respondents have felt stressed, anxious, depressed and lonely
- Stress is a struggle for three quarters of hard hat professionals
- For every hundred workers, fourteen have experienced feelings of self-harm or suicide
- Four out of ten respondents have taken time off work for mental health reasons
- Absence in the hard hat industries is three times higher than the national average
- Over half of respondents find talking about their mental health uncomfortable or awkward
- 41% of hard hat workplaces don’t have sufficient mental health support in place
- Professional services have been used by 35% of respondents to support their mental health
At Bartec, we feel strongly about advocating for mental health within our industry as we recognise that struggles are prevalent in this sector, as well as the age range of men that typically work for us.
Spreading Awareness for Andy’s Man Club
We are delighted that, following on from the success of Fife Council and Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, we have received more interest from other councils who are supportive of this initiative and recognise its value and importance.
We hope to keep supporting initiatives that help those working within our sector, and look forward to a continued partnership with Andy’s Man Club as the work they do is very close to our hearts.
Join Us in Making a Difference
If you would like your council to partake in initiatives that raise awareness around mental health, contact us today.
