Some of the people that use Livability’s Lifestyle Choices service in the East Midlands have found a new hobby in the form of all things Eddie Stobart.
The Eddie Stobart truck firm, which has captured the public imagination with their personalised lorries, enjoy a huge following across the country. Enthusiasts of the brand are keen truck spotters – shouting out ‘Stobart’ or honking their horns on seeing the green, red and white lorries – and the people that Livability supports through our Lifestyle Choices service are no exception.
Tracy Medri, a Lifestyle Choices support worker, explained: ‘I’d be driving some of the guys to their golf session, and if we saw an Eddie Stobart lorry, I would always honk and mime a “honking the horn” arm action. This caused lots of laughter and caught on – until everyone in the car was doing it.’
As spotting the lorries when out driving became more popular with the group, Tracy decided to find out about getting membership for the Stobart Club. Now six people each receive a regular magazine featuring lots of news and information about the Club, plus their own ‘fleet book’ to record registration numbers, badges and DVDs.
‘I now run an afternoon “Stobart session” on Tuesdays – it’s like a club,’ said Tracy. ‘We get together and watch DVDs together and fill in our fleet books. The guys are really keen.’
[blockquote cite=”Cath” type=”left”]’One customer, Chris, is usually quite reserved and likes to spend time on his own, listening to his music. But the “club” has really brought him out of himself and he makes sure he never misses a session.'[/blockquote]
The group now go out ‘lorry spotting’ once a week. Standing on one of the bridges over the local main road, they love to wave and honk at the Eddie Stobart trucks that pass under the bridge, and the drivers often respond, which causes great excitement. ‘We try and write down the registration numbers when we see the lorries out on the road, and then fill in the details in our fleet books when we get back to the centre,’ Tracy told us.
Now they are going to take it further. Tracy has arranged for the group to visit the Eddie Stobart lorry depot in Rugby – a chance to climb aboard the cabs of the trucks, chat to the drivers and do some serious ‘fleet spotting’.
‘All the guys are really excited,’ said Tracy. ‘They can’t wait to get aboard all the trucks and meet the drivers. And there will be lots of numbers to record in our fleet books!’
Livability’s Lifestyle Choices services work to support people live independent lives and connect with their community.
Caption: Paul, Allan, Bernard, Chris, Chris Smith and Craig, show off their Eddie Stobart t-shirts that Lifestyle Choices gave them for Christmas. The guys are pictured here with Livability Lifestyle Choices support workers Tracy (on left) and Gwen.
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