Transaid delivers life-saving work with partners and governments in more than 20 countries, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa, empowering people to build the skills they need to transform their lives.
The international development organisation’s road safety work focuses on influencing safe driver behaviour with long term programmes in Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, responding to local needs for improved training for drivers and riders of trucks and buses.
Over the years many transport companies and individuals based around the UK have given their time to help the charity, be it through training, charity bike rides or donating equipment.
Matthew Kibble, former owner of Matthew Kibble Transport, recently travelled to Tanzania to deliver three inspirational talks on behalf of Transaid at the National Institute of Transport (NIT), located in Dar es Salaam.
Kibble’s presentations focused on how he built up his Lancashire-based company, looking at cost control, as well as buying and selling businesses, all of which provided an insight into running a professional transport operation.
He also told the story of how he used setbacks as learning opportunities, and took time to listen to the students, encouraging them to aim high.
About 45 transport and logistics students attended the talks which were organised by the Transaid Coordinator at NIT.
The NIT began its partnership with Transaid in 2010, under the shared goal of providing quality driver training and reducing traffic accidents.
Kibble started in the industry as a truck driver, before establishing his own logistics company in 1999, which was incorporated to Matthew Kibble Transport in 2004.
In 2022, he sold his business to a larger, family-owned transport company, but stayed on as Managing Director.
Caroline Barber, Chief Executive of Transaid, said: “I was able to join Matthew for some of his talks and seeing how engaged the students were throughout was incredible.
“Hearing from the students enabled us to see how they were relating to the information he was sharing.
“It’s so important for the next generation to have this engagement with the private sector and Transaid was delighted to help facilitate this.”
Meanwhile, two HGVs, which previously operated in the UK, have been donated by long-standing Transaid supporters, Fagan & Whalley, and Samworth Brothers, to help train hundreds of new and existing truck drivers at the Industrial Training Centre (ITC) in Lusaka, Zambia.
Both tractor units, a Scania 6×2 and a Mercedes Actros 6×2, were fully serviced prior to being shipped 7,000 miles and fitted with the latest cameras and telematics systems, provided by Transaid corporate partners Brigade Electronics and Microlise,
Brigade installed two analogue high-definition side cameras, along with a seven-inch colour monitor in the driver’s cab, while Microlise supplied access to its fleet performance and driver safety software solutions, together with telematics equipment on the two donated vehicles.
The Microlise delivery team also trained the ITC team on best practice and on how the product can help support their driver training and enhance driver safety.
This ongoing partnership between Transaid and the ITC aims to improve road safety across the country, with the organisations having first teamed up in 2008 and together trained more than 22,000 drivers during the 16-year period.
Fagan & Whalley has previously donated a bicycle ambulance and participated in numerous Transaid events, including its annual charity cycle challenges.
Ian Cooper, Samworth Brothers Supply Chain Regional Fleet Manager, said: “This is the fourth training vehicle we have donated, and we are proud to see it supporting such a great cause.
“Working with Transaid has been a very positive experience for us and I am looking forward to seeing how the additional in-cab technology will improve the student experience.”
Also, Nicoletta Effah, a Graduate Operations Management Trainee for GXO, recently took part in a six-month secondment as a Project Officer for Transaid, helping the ITC in Lusaka deliver professional HGV and PSV driver training to internationally recognised standards.
Nicoletta was tasked with supporting the roll-out of the two donated trucks, and ensuring management can benefit from the added value of having telematics-equipped vehicles for the first time.
To support her work, she underwent online telematics training with Microlise and Brigade.
Tasks she took part in included creating a maintenance schedule to forward-plan servicing, avoiding clashes with when the assets were needed for practical training.
This was very important given the high utilisation of all training vehicles, due to exceptional driver demand.
Neil Rettie, Transaid’s Road Safety Project Manager, said: “The calibre of the graduates GXO places with us each year is a testament to the talent they attract as an organisation, and which we are so incredibly lucky to benefit from.
“It’s a perfect example of how our corporate membership programme benefits all parties – allowing us to bring additional resource onto key projects, whilst delivering the kind of management training experience which would be hard to match in the UK.”
Founded by Save the Children, The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT), and its Patron, HRH The Princess Royal more than 25 years ago, corporate sponsorships are an important way in which Transaid secures the funds to carry out its vital work.
For example, commercial vehicle finance and sales company, Asset Alliance Group, recently signed a three-year corporate partnership agreement, meaning it will contribute time, knowledge, and resources to support Transaid’s road safety and access to healthcare projects across sub-Saharan Africa.
More than 30 companies from across the transport and logistics sector hold a corporate partnership with Transaid, including vehicle and equipment manufacturers, trade associations and major fleet operators from the freight and passenger transport sectors.
Barber said: “When companies join us as a corporate partner, we benefit from vital unrestricted funds which allow us to pilot new projects and demonstrate their potential, before bidding for larger scale donor funding.
“Such income was essential to trialling our first professional HGV and PSV driver training projects in Tanzania and Zambia – work we’ve gone on to grow significantly, and in multiple countries.”
For more information and to find out how you can support the organisation visit www.transaid.org
