Dragons’ Den entrepreneur teams up with national charity Brake for Road Safety Week (and beyond)

Ed Hollands, the young founder of mobile advertising company DrivenMedia has gifted five branded lorries to Brake, the road safety charity ahead of Road Safety Week (November 18 to November 24).

The lorries carry hard hitting messages, from reminding drivers to always wear a seatbelt to getting the message across that any phone use behind the wheel is dangerous. 

In 2018 Ed (25) walked away with a £30,000 investment and the backing of Dragon Jenny Campbell from the BBC TV series, Dragons’ Den. Since then his business has gone from strength to strength and he now has a team and more than 100 branded lorries travelling around the UK. 

Ed said: “Road safety is clearly something which is very important for everyone – and for me it’s important as my whole business relies on the good sense and behaviour on the road of lorry drivers and other motorists.

“When I was approached by Brake, I was more than happy to help with gifting these lorries to them to get their message of safety out far and wide. I worked in partnership with distribution company Boughey and I’d like to thank them for supporting the campaign by allowing these messages to be carried on five of their vehicles. 

“They will be on the road for 12 months. If we can use the power of truck advertising to save one life, then I believe we should.”

Neil Trotter, Boughey Distribution’s transport operations director, said: “It’s great news our trailers will be displaying Brake’s important and impactful safety messages through our partnership with DrivenMedia. Given the industry we operate in, we really couldn’t be supporting a more appropriate campaign.”

Brake is a national charity, set up in 1995, working to prevent road deaths and injuries as well supporting those who have been bereaved or injured in crashes. Road Safety Week, coordinated by Brake, has been running for 22 years. With five people dying on UK roads every single day, the need for the charity’s work is clear. 

Road Safety Week aims to inspire thousands of schools, organisations and communities to take action on road safety and promote life-saving messages during the awareness week and beyond. This year Brake is encouraging everyone to ‘step up for safe streets’.

Joshua Harris, director of campaigns for Brake, said: “We are grateful to Ed for giving us his backing and gifting these branded lorries. It will really help us get our road safety messaging out there to drivers for Road Safety Week and beyond. All drivers have a role to play in making our roads safer and they can step up for safe streets by pledging to be a safe driver every time they get behind the wheel.” 

Road Safety Week runs from Monday November 18 to Sunday November 24. To take part and register for a free action pack, visit www.roadsafetyweek.org.uk