Driven Minds is a Community Interest Company (otherwise known as a ‘CIC’) focused on mental health within the motorsport and automotive communities. We are a non-profit organisation and we are funded through donations and the sale of merchandise (if you haven’t already, check out what we have on offer)!
Driven Minds was initially formed back in 2021, as a collection of those who worked within motorsport, who felt the effects of the COVID lockdowns on the industry. From our own experiences, we recognised the uniqueness of racing on mental health. As we all know, motorsport can be an outlet to release stress and enjoy a break from daily life, but it can also risk being its own stressor, which can be exacerbated within a paddock environment and nature of its activities. Countless factors impacting on race results are entirely out of the competitor’s own control!
We recognise that a lot of race teams, manufacturers, circuits and racing clubs appreciate the importance of good mental health in the areas that they operate in, however, we found that dedicated support or accessible content on the topic was few and far between. We can’t get away from the statistics too, it is well versed that the industry is still very male-dominated, and it is also very well versed that men can find it more difficult to speak up or seek help when needed.
Did you know that the leading cause of death in men aged under 50 in the UK is suicide? Take a look when you next walk through a motorsport paddock – suddenly that statistic becomes even more alarming!
So what do we want to do? Well, our goals are simple, we want to ensure that sufficient and accessible mental health support is available across all UK paddocks and automotive environments, to grow the presence of mental health first aiders and to foster a safe space for meaningful conversation.
We wish to expand as broadly as we can across all motorsport disciplines, and we’d love to have a member of our team present at every motorsport event. We have a great team of ambassadors flying our flag, but we know that we need to expand further to increase our coverage across the UK. We also have further ambitions to fund private counseling for those in need, as let’s face it, the NHS wait times are sadly too long for most seeking help.
Did you know that you can have good mental fitness but poor mental health…at the same time?! A lot of mental health illnesses are best being treated by the experts, but there are things we can do to improve and maintain good mental fitness and sound emotional health to put us in a stronger position to overcome those challenges on our mental health, and get us to feeling better, quicker. You’ll see a lot of our socials are based on supporting good mental fitness and techniques to help us overcome and process life’s inevitable ups and downs, as well as signposting to resources and organisations best-positioned to provide support for those who need it.
If you want to become part of our mission, or want to find out more about us, contact help@drivenminds.co.uk.
We look forward to hearing from you!
