Manufacturing leaders together to raise funds for men’s mental health charity Andy’s Man Club

Regional manufacturers Thurston Group, Sulzer, Nufarm, MPM Bradford, Leeds Welding Company, Austar, NPS Group, Allsops, Hystat, and more will start cycling and running on May 13 at 7am and finish 24 hours later, keeping the bike and treadmill running in tandem at E3R’s on-site gym at their Head Office in Elland.

There are still some spaces available for manufacturers to get involved, with avid runners, walkers, or cyclist being able to choose either the bike, treadmill, or both for a 30-minute slot or one-hour slots between 9am until 7pm, with E3R employees cycling and running through the night to 7am the next morning.

The E3R’s BIG Ride & Run fundraiser takes place during Mental Health Awareness Week which starts on 9th May and aims to raise £2,000 for Andy’s Man Club. It is the first in a series of events E3R is running to raise awareness for the charity.

In July E3R Warriors will be competing in the Bradford Dragon Boat Festival Multi Charity Championship, racing against 45 teams at Roberts Park, Saltaire.

E3R specialises in engineering and manufacturing recruitment, and like many industries within the UK, there has been a huge push to prioritise mental health in the workplace, accelerated by the impact the Covid pandemic and as a result has seen multiple organisations re-evaluate how they can better support their employees by introducing mental health initiatives.

E3R Director Andrew Pilling commented: “Over the last year, we’ve been focused on building on our strengths, empowering our employees, and continuously improving how we can support our clients and candidates. For our employees, we’ve created different working environments within our head office and promote a ‘Team-first’ culture, to make it easier for our employees to communicate when they need support whether work-related or not. Part of this effort is knowing the impact mental health has on both employees, candidates, and organisations, which is why we have chosen Andy’s Man Club, a men’s mental health charity, as our charity partner.”

Andy’s Man Club was founded in 2016, after the tragic loss of Andy Roberts, by Andy’s Brother-in-law, Luke Ambler and Andy’s Mother, Elaine Roberts, to prevent other families from the suffering they had been through. As a men’s mental health charity, the goal of the organisation is to provide free-to-attend talking groups for men, destigmatise Male Mental health, provide men with a safe space to talk, address their feelings and support other men struggling with mental health issues.

Lucas Whitehead from Andy’s Man Club commented on the partnership: “We are a donation lead charity, so we are delighted that E3 Recruitment has selected Andy’s Man Club as a charity partner. These last 12 months have seen us opening over 50 new clubs to support more men across the UK in England, Scotland, and Wales, so we now have 102 clubs nationwide.

“Through kind donations, we can provide training for our 500 volunteers, facilitator kits, refreshments, rent, and raise awareness of the groups through campaigns and merchandise. We have set up online clubs to support men in places where we don’t have venues or men can’t attend for mobility or illness reasons. Our slogan is #ItsOkayToTalk, and donations make this happen so we can run our clubs, helping hundreds of men through difficult times in their lives and coming out stronger."

To sponsor the E3R’s BIG Ride & Run visit www.justgiving.com