Neil Mansell Transport lends support to national mental health program

Australian trucking icon Neil Mansell Transport has lent its name and three trailers to a national program offering mental health support to people living in rural and remote parts of Australia.

Encouraging residents in rural and remote communities to access the Head to Heath mental health phone service are (from left) Deb Spanner from the Western Queensland Primary Health Network, Neil Mansell Transport director Robert Mansell and RHealth general manager Michelle Sieders.

Three of Neil Mansell’s trailers have been transformed into mobile mental health billboards and will carry their message through rural and remote communities across Australia.

The trailers’ curtains will promote the new Western Queensland Head to Health service that was designed to help outback residents find the mental health support they need either locally or via telehealth.

The Australia-wide service is free for anyone experiencing stress, anxiety and other mental health issues. A GP referral is not required and it can help with general mental health, suicide prevention, and alcohol and other drug services.

Inspecting the new Neil Mansell trailers and their RHealth signage are Deb Spanner from the Western Queensland Primary Health Network and Neil Mansell Transport director Robert Mansell with his staff.

“It is a partnership that has not existed before, we are placing advertising for a really good mental health service that will go on trucks and travel around the countryside, promoting vital mental support,” Western Queensland PHN senior manager Deb Spanner said.

“Truckies are twice as likely to experience psychological distress and that one in two people experience psychological distress.

“They are isolated, on the road, away from family and friends, they are not doing their regular routine, they are not eating properly.”

The billboard project is a collaboration between the Toowoomba-based trucking icon Neil Mansell Transport, the Western Queensland Primary Health Network and RHealth.

It aims to promote awareness of RHealth services among people living in rural and remote communities where mental health services can be difficult to access.

The curtains on three Neil Mansell Transport trailers will serve as a travelling billboard for Head to Health, a telehealth service.

Robert Mansell said he and his father Neil were proud to support the program.

“We employ more than 700 people and a lot of those people work in remote and isolated locations,” he said.

“It can be tough on them and everybody has come into contact with someone who has had mental health issues, whether a friend, a family member or a colleague.

“Trucking is a tough industry that has a reputation of employing tough men, that don’t look for help as quickly as they should.”

The trailers will make their maiden journey from Toowoomba to Winton on Saturday. From there they will be folded into NMT’s roster and transport goods from Brisbane to Darwin, Adelaide to Perth.