More than $5,000 has been raised for TIACS (This Is A Conversation Starter) through the sale of more than 190 shirts and 100 drink bottles at Bunnings stores at Lake Haven, West Gosford and Umina Beach since the partnership with TradeMutt launched on July 26.
“It’s been great to see so many of our customers get behind the cause and buy a loud shirt or drink bottle to support the mental health of South Coast tradies,” Bunnings Lake Haven Operations Manager Olivia Corrigan said.
“Talking about mental health can be hard, so Bunnings is really proud to work with TradeMutt and TIACS to help bring the topic out into the open and spark important conversations.”
Sales of the brightly coloured TradeMutt shirts and reusable water bottles at Bunnings have raised more than $600,000 so far this year.
The money raised will fund counselling for hundreds of trades people and their families through TIACS, a free, early intervention mental health counselling service for blue-collar workers.
TIACS was formed in 2020 by TradeMutt co-founders Ed Ross and Dan Allen as part of their mission to change the culture around mental health in the construction industry.
Since then TIACS has provided more than 13,000 professional counselling sessions for free.
The TradeMutt work shirts and water bottles are also designed to be conversation starters, bringing mental health into the open.
“It can be tough for tradies to talk about their mental health, but these brightly coloured shirts and water bottles are a great way to get a conversation started,” Bunnings Director of Operations and Commercial Ben Camire said.
“Bunnings is proud to partner with TradeMutt to help TIACS provide mental health support for the trade community.”
More than 10,000 TradeMutt work shirts, and 15,000 water bottles have been sold at Bunnings stores around the nation since the partnership launched on July 26.
“The partnership with Bunnings has been a great success, allowing us to fund free mental health support for tradies doing it tough,” Allen said.
“We’ve been able to reach parts of Australia we wouldn’t have been able to reach without the support of Bunnings.”
Ross said Bunnings had helped TradeMutt take its mental health message directly to tradies.
“It’s a great way for us to get our mental health message out and encourage more people in the trades to reach out for help when they need it,” he said.
A limited number of TradeMutt work shirts are still available for $45 in Bunnings stores, including at Umina Beach, Lake Haven and West Gosford.