..the need to focus on the health and well-being of our family, friends, colleagues and workmates is more important than ever.
Roadside Services and Solutions mission statement is to “Create a Safer Environment” and this year the management and staff picked up the baton to promote R U OK? Day and help raise funds to help stop suicides in our communities. Roadside management has revved up staff across all our operations, our service providers and the public with our R U OK in ISO? Icey Challenge. The challenge consists of jumping into a cold pool or walking into a cold shower (clothed) or being sprayed by a cold water hose and having the activity filmed and posted on social media to encourage people to donate to the cause.
Roadside Managing Director Jared Watkins says, “When we asked our staff to take the plunge with us and asked them ‘R U OK with this’? we got an overwhelming response.
“The message was pretty clear, we wanted to motivate and invigorate our team to ensure they checked on their mates asking if they are OK through all this lockdown and isolation we’re going through. What better way to do it with an activity that actually promotes well-being and healthy minds, by taking a swim in cold water.
Australians have had a year like no other, but from adversity also comes the ability to do things we would never have done before and that’s what this lockdown has done. It’s allowed us to focus on what really matters in life and given us the opportunity to do things we may not have necessarily done to make a positive difference in people’s lives".
As the weeks turned into months of this lockdown time we are all having to endure, we looked for a charity and organisation we could partner with and we came up with R U OK? Day which is marked on 10 September.
The idea of conducting an Icey Challenge came about from having a couple of kids stuck in the house in the depths of a cold winter and my mother telling them to stop feeling sorry for themselves and told them that jumping into the cold pool would knock some sense back into them about how lucky they were … and so the Icey ISO dip challenge started. We’re really proud of our staff for not only taking the plunge with us and created their own funny videos, but the fact that so many of our staff, their families and our service providers have dipped into their pockets and donated so generously. We’re pretty confident we’ll raise well over $3000 for this worthy cause, Jared Watkins says.
Roadside - caring for our people
Roadside has always considered our people are at the core of our business success and has always invested in the training and knowledge-growth of our employees. Their health and well-being is of major importance to our company. We recently created a suite of five videos about the people in our business and the value and contribution they make not only to our business but to the jobs they deliver for our clients. Check out our videos here. Showcasing the value of our people gives our clients confidence their job is in good hands and will be delivered successfully and proudly by our team. Together we are making a positive difference.
About R U OK Organisation
The R U OK Organisation’s mission is all about a conversation which starts with “R U OK?” that could change a person’s life. The organisation’s mission is to inspire and empower everyone to meaningfully connect with people around them and support anyone struggling with life. The aim is to promote connectedness and belonging. By inspiring people to take the time to ask "R U OK?" and listen, we can help people struggling with life feel connected long before they even think about suicide. It all comes down to regular, face-to-face, meaningful conversations about life. Asking “R U OK?” is a great place to start.
The R U OK? vision is a world where we're all connected and are protected from suicide.
