Builders Merchants Journal – BMJ Publishing to Builders Merchants and the UK merchanting industry for more than 95 years
Building materials supplier Travis Perkins and Tarmac Blue Circle have doubled their commitment to construction mental health by scaling up their support for the Band of Builders (BoB) Big Brew campaign.
The Big Brew events are an informal, soft approach to connect with tradespeople over a drink, which aims to signpost workers to BoB’s free resources, which include a 24/7 text support service, a telephone helpline, face-to-face counselling, and online wellbeing tools.
This doubled commitment represents a 100% increase on the 40 events delivered during last year’s campaign, targeting a sector that loses two workers to suicide every day.
The surge in momentum was highlighted recently at a flagship Big Brew event held at the Travis Perkins Bedford branch, where leaders from all three organisations met with local tradespeople to break down the stigma surrounding mental health.
Richard Lavin, managing director of Travis Perkins, said: “The support that Band of Builders’ Big Brew offers is hugely important. It’s tough out there in the construction industry, and it’s vital that tradespeople have somewhere to turn when they need support, counselling or financial relief.
“We’re proud of our partnership with Tarmac and Band of Builders, and we’re determined to reach as many of our branches as possible. With more than 500 across the UK, there’s still a long way to go – but we’ll keep pushing to get into as many as we can and in front of even more customers next year.”
