One of the UK’s fastest growing independent driver and industrial recruitment companies has ‘got on its bike’ to help raise vital funds for road transport development in Zambia.
Transline Resource, which provides over 500 professionally assessed HGV drivers to some of Britain’s largest retail and logistics companies, has supported one of its client companies, Wincanton, in the ‘Cycle Zambia Challenge’ – a grueling 10 day charity bike ride over 260 miles of dusty, inhospitable African terrain.
Transline Resource currently supplies Wincanton at over 30 UK locations prompting it to donate £1000 to help seven Wincanton employees – dubbed the ‘Pirates of the Zambian’ – reach their £30,000 target.
Organised by Transaid – a charity formed by the UK transport industry to improve the way transport is managed in the developing world – the Cycle Zambia Challenge 2009 (7th to 16th May) has successfully raised a total of £100,000 to help improve road safety for the country’s 12 million inhabitants.
Director of Transline Resource, Paul Beasley, said: “When we heard about the challenge the Wincanton team had set themselves we were only too willing to help out. The cause is a fantastic one and anyone we work with who is willing to put themselves through ten days of cycling in the baking heat to help those less fortunate deserves our full support.”
After riding over the awe-inspiring Victoria Falls Bridge, Cycle Zambia cyclists paid a visit to Transaid’s Professional Driver Training Project, which works in partnership with the Industrial Training Centre Trust (ITCT) in Lusaka to improve driver training and safety standards – an element of temporary driver supply key to Transline Resource’s ethics.
“The values of Transaid’s Professional Driver Training Project resonate strongly in our organisation,” said Paul Beasley, whose Transline Resource business has led the way in its commitment to the training of drivers for the UK haulage industry to NVQ, CPC level and beyond.
He added: “Poor training of drivers can have serious consequences ranging from law suits to serious injury and in some instances death. The success of our UK training scheme has driven up standards and efficiency in the industry so to see it happening in a less developed country is fantastic. We are more than happy supporting Wincanton in endorsing such a well thought out scheme.”
Wincanton Contract Manager and Cycle Zambia participant, Gavin Williams said: “We’d like to thank Transline Resource for helping provide us with the motivation we needed to get the job done. Despite the obvious fun involved, this was about raising money for a good cause and we were overwhelmed by the response we got, especially in the current economic climate.”
Each year in Zambia road crashes cost the country £178 million and tragically the poor are most affected. The loss or injury of a breadwinner following a road accident can severely disrupt the income of a family unit.
The severe shortage of trained HGV drivers in Zambia compounds the problem but the country’s transport industry lacks the basic capacity to provide training. By working with the ITCT, Transaid aims to address this problem and ultimately reduce the number of fatalities on Zambian roads.
Wincanton’s ‘Pirates of the Zambian’ will be joined on the 10 day expedition by 18 other adventurers from companies including Volvo Trucks, Royal Mail, Bridgestone, ATS Euromaster, Traderman Systems (TM Ware), Systems Group, Jackson Gilmour, Telefonica 02 and International Freight Weekly.
Transline Resource recruitment was set up by Directors Paul Beasley and Jon Taylor in 1991/92.
Today, it is one of the UK’s fastest growing recruiters of drivers and industrial staff and is a firm favourite of such household name retailers as B&Q, Tesco, Asda, Index, Somerfield, Homebase, Monsoon, Argos and Marks &Spencer to name but a few.
It has on-site offices in Rochdale, Bolton, Accrington, Trafford Park, Barnsley, Leeds, Nottingham, Rugby, Coventry, Stoke, Chichester, Bedford, Northampton, Wellingborough, Glasgow, Motherwell, East Kilbride, Pitreavie, Wigan and Swindon. The on-site management service the company is able to offer is completely transportable and is not restricted to fixed branch office locations.
transline resource jon taylor tel: 01422 349423 email: jontaylor@resource-transline.co.uk
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