3 May 2021

'Tradies Tune Ups' and a caffeine fix brighten a cold Canberra morning

| Lottie Twyford
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Coffee and breakfast being handed to tradie in car

Allinsure and Kickstart Espresso recently teamed up with OzHelp for ‘Tradies Tune Ups’ to address mental and physical health and wellbeing. Photo: Thomas Lucraft.

It’s fair to say that not many of us are looking forward to the inevitable return of Canberra’s icy winter mornings.

However, recently local insurance broker Allinsure and Kickstart Espresso teamed up to brighten the morning of Canberrans by offering caffeine fixes in return for a donation to OzHelp.

The team from OzHelp, a leading provider of workplace wellbeing programs, were onsite to deliver free ‘Tradies Tune Ups’ between 6:00 am and 9:00 am.

Tradies might be better at rising early than the rest of us, but research suggests they are less proactive about tackling preventative health, both physical and mental.

So in response to this – alongside their other services such as training, counselling sessions, support calls and digital health sessions – OzHelp implemented ‘Tradies Tune Ups’.

A Tradies Tune Up is a free 20 minute check-up during which participants receive health information relevant to them including cholesterol and blood pressure checks, weight management advice, a diabetes risk assessment and stress and depression awareness.

Two men in fluoro vests

Local insurance broker Allinsure was proud to get behind the important ‘Tradies Tune Ups’ cause. Photo: Thomas Lucraft.

If needed, participants can be directed to pathways where additional support can be found.

Rather than participants needing to fork out for a doctor’s visit when there is nothing obviously wrong, a tune up can give participants a way to receive a holistic health report to help prepare for the future.

Allinsure managing director Peter Chamberlain says he was motivated to get behind the initiative after learning about the impact of the OzHelp program.

“I’m really proud to partner with our friends at Kickstart to raise some funds for OzHelp, but more importantly to get as many tradies as we can through a tune up.”

Despite the cold morning on the day of the event, Peter says he was impressed by the turnout, and they raised more than $3000 during the course of three hours.

The money was raised from donations people made in their cars, and a top-up amount generously donated from the team at Allinsure.

Peter says he is heartened to learn that most of the tradies he spoke to on the day had actually already heard about the program, either because their workplaces offered it or were planning to do so in the future.

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“This is great news as it shows business owners and operators are getting onboard with prioritising the importance of mental and physical wellbeing of their employees,” he says.

On the day, a couple of participants did a full Tradies Tune Up, while most chose to have a quick chat to the OzHelp team while they were in their cars.

Other tradies who got a coffee during the event said they would definitely take up the opportunity to participate in a future Tradies Tune Up after hearing about the benefits.

To learn more about Tradies Tune Ups, visit OzHelp.

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