Construction haulier Civils & Lintels is helping to advertise a mental health charity on its trucks after one of its drivers came up with the idea.

The distributor of lintels, drainage and building materials raised £21,000 for Mates in Mind last year and it is now rolling out refreshed signage on its fleet of 95 HGVs that provides details of the charity’s free text helpline service.

Mates in Mind raises awareness of the stigma of poor mental health, especially in the construction sector.

The company said its Westbury-based driver Mark Byers (pictured) was the brainchild behind the project.

Byers said: “Having suffered with my own mental health, I’m really proud that this has happened.

“As a lorry driver, you spend lots of time on your own and if you’re not feeling 100% it’s good to know that you can reach out to a great charity like Mates in Mind. Of course, those on building sites often also suffer in silence.

“Now, when they see this on my truck, they might be encouraged to give them a call.”

The Civils & Lintels team carried out a series of fundraising events during 2023, which included colleagues shaving their hair and beards off; one employee travelling to all 18 Dutch premier league stadiums in 24 hours; sky-dives and teams climbing the equivalent of Mount Everest.

MD Allan Wright added: “Mates in Mind has built a reputation for addressing issues around poor mental health in the construction industry and given the focus of our own work, the synergy is clear.

“I joined the board at Mates in Mind as a further demonstration of our commitment to this important charity and when Mark suggested we include details of the charity on our fleet of trucks it made perfect sense to do so.

“Those trucks not only reach our own nationwide teams across our 19 depots, but also our myriad of customers across housebuilding, groundworks, civil engineering and commercial contractors. Anything that we can do to encourage greater support around tackling poor mental health is time well-spent.”

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