Four East Yorkshire Buses Staff Members Triumph in 17-Mile Sponsored Walk for Mental Health Charity

Four dedicated members of the East Yorkshire Buses team have successfully completed a challenging 17-mile sponsored walk, raising an impressive £1128.45 for the Hull-based mental health charity, Mind.

Setting off from the old East Yorkshire bus depot in Hornsea and making their way to the Anlaby Road depot in Hull, four members of the East Yorkshire team undertook this journey on Sunday, 22 October 2023, sponsored by colleagues, friends, and family, and showing the collective commitment to mental health awareness and support. The funds raised have been directly donated to Mind, a local organization renowned for its efforts in providing crucial mental health services to the local community.

The East Yorkshire Buses staff members – John Towse, Andrew Cope, Mark Dimaline and Thomas Betteridge (left to right in the attached image with Mind representative in the centre) – embarked on this meaningful journey to not only raise funds for the charity, but to also draw attention to the importance of mental health in the workplace and the broader community.

Andrew Cope, one of the staff members involved who is normally to be found working in the early hours of the morning ensuring East Yorkshire’s buses are leaving the depot on time, wants to let other people know that mental health struggles are nothing to be embarrassed about: “After finding myself needing some help earlier this year, I wanted to let people at work know that it’s OK to talk, to reach out, and to encourage them not to be embarrassed about it.

“Since reaching out for help myself, I’ve found that other members of the team have been reaching out to me. That’s why I wanted to do this walk, to raise money for Mind and play my part in opening the door for others to talk about their own mental health.”

East Yorkshire’s Managing Director, Ben Gilligan, said: “We’re immensely proud of John, Andrew, Mark and Thomas. Their clear dedication and commitment to supporting mental health initiatives resonate greatly with the values we have here at East Yorkshire – we believe in supporting and contributing to the communities we serve, so it’s great to see our team members getting involved in causes like this.”

The funds raised were presented to Mind on 14 November as representatives from East Yorkshire Buses and Mind came together to celebrate the successful completion of the sponsored walk and discuss the positive impact it will have on people in the local area.