We were delighted to join forces with other members of the automotive community last week to put our Hats on 4 Ben.
Automotive charity Ben hold this mental health awareness campaign and fundraiser every year to raise vital funds for members of the automotive family who are struggling with their mental health.
This year, support for mental health is in the spotlight more than ever, with so many people struggling with anxiety, isolation and financial pressures during the covid-19 pandemic.
The premise of Hats on 4 Ben, which has raised over £50,000 since its launch in 2015, is a simple one – wear a hat to work and donate £5.
All money raised helps Ben to provide mental health support to people working in the automotive industry, including access to mental health assessments and counselling
With over 80% of the automotive industry currently furloughed or working from home, for the first time ever this year’s Hats on 4 Ben campaign was entirely digital, taking place on social media as week-long virtual event from 18th-24th May.
Here at Copart, we’ve been proud advocates of Ben for many years, having adopted them as our company charity and holding many fundraising regular fundraising events to help support the amazing work they do in our industry.
Of course, we jumped at the chance to take part in this year’s Hats on 4 Ben campaign and even held a competition for the best team photograph to inspire our people to get creative!
Copart teammates across our 18 UK locations, really got into the spirit and came up with a fantastic selection of hats for the week-long event.
Teammates who are currently working from home were able to take part in the event via team video calls..
…and our Operations Centre based teammates showed ingenuity and enthusiasm with their socially distanced photo entries
The winners of our competition were from our Operations Centre in Chester, whose group photo cleverly conveyed important mental health awareness messages as well as a fabulous range of hats.
“It was great to see so many of our teammates showing the Copart Spirit and getting creative for such a good cause. Not only did everyone have great fun, at a time where we all need things to make us smile, but we also helped raise funds for Ben and awareness of mental health issues, which is more important than ever right now.”
Karen Langley, Communications Manager
All teammates who took part were asked to make a £5 donation to Ben and we’re thrilled to hear that, together with other members of the automotive community, we contributed to the final fundraising total of just under £3,000. This means Ben can provide mental health assessments for 68 people and ensure they get the right support.
“This was a really well-timed event for lifting everyone’s spirits. With Copart deemed as an essential service to the insurance industry, we had to react very quickly to the covid-19 pandemic and ensure we could protect our people while continuing to collect vehicles from around the country. Therefore over 200 of our Head Office teammates, who are not directly involved in operational processes, have reverted to remote working.
“So, this was a perfect opportunity to bring them together with the rest of our teammates who are working in our Operations Centres, have some fun and feel more connected to each other, in a safe way, while raising money for a great cause.”
Jo Ferguson, Head of UK Human Resources
Find out more about our charity fundraising and work in the community.