TEXT SERVICE ADDRESSES CONSTRUCTION MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS
A new text service has been launched as part of a growing campaign to get landscapers and tradespeople to open up about their mental health over a cuppa.
Tradespeople, contractors and their families can open up in person by texting BOB to 85258 at any time to get much-needed help.
The service, launched by national charity Band of Builders, coincides with the return in October of the Big Brew – an industry-wide campaign that aims to shine a spotlight on the mental health crisis in construction, where two people are thought to take their own lives every day.
The Big Brew aims to encourage more tradespeople and contractors to come together over a cuppa as the first step in seeking help with a range of issues from general anxiety – due to factors such as the cost-of-living crisis – to suicidal thoughts.
More than 250 Big Brew events are expected to take place in builders’ merchants and on construction sites across the UK, building on last year’s campaign and encouraging more people to seek help where needed.
Also new for this year is the Big Brew tea scale, which will act as an icebreaker to start conversations where tradespeople can ask one another where they rank on the scale.
Construction charity Band of Builders helps members of the UK construction industry who are battling illness or injury through the completion of practical projects carried out by volunteer tradespeople using donated materials.
Peter Cape, the Big Brew lead at Band of Builders, commented: “The first ever Big Brew highlighted just how much the construction industry was crying out for something that gave tradespeople and contractors the outlet to get together over a cuppa and discuss the wider issue of mental health and wellbeing.
“The challenge has been to make it as easy as possible for tradespeople and contractors to take that all-important first step and reach out for help. The new tea scale is a great icebreaker, prompting people to ask where their mental health is on the scale. If someone isn’t in a place where they can open up face to face, the new text service is another way to get the ball rolling in seeking help.
“Like everyone else in the UK, construction workers are facing difficult times with the ongoing cost of living crisis, so it’s more important than ever that they have somewhere to turn to if they need to talk, whether that’s in person or via text.”
