Tiredness is a major killer on roads. A significant proportion of these crashes involve vehicles being driven for work. Brake is calling on companies to take part in a fun event to help raise awareness of the dangers of tired driving and raise vital funds for Brake!

Your Wake Up For Work Day can take place on any day in your company, so get planning now and help save lives on roads, in four simple steps!

Step 1: Set a date a month or so ahead, so everyone has time to prepare!  Contact Brake to order your FREE resource pack.  Ring 01484 559909 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it today.  Tell all your staff the date, using your staff ebulletin, posters, your company intranet or email reminders as the date approaches. The summer is a great time to do it, as your day may include wearing thin clothing (see next step!).

Step 2: Plan your Wake Up For Work Day fun activities to raise funds for Brake and awareness of driver tiredness! Here are our top ideas! 

• Hold a dress down day, when all your drivers and staff come to work dressed in pyjamas in return for donating a pound each! Produce a photocopiable flyer about the day and the importance of not driving tired to hand out to staff or customers, and provide buckets (or pillowcases!) for employees to collect donations so people can contribute to the cause and know what you're doing!
• Hold a sponsored 'bed-in for Brake' day! Do you work at a computer? Why not work from a laptop for the day in your pyjamas from a bed in your home or a bed taken to your office specially for the occasion?! You could recreate your very own version of the famous John Lennon and Yoko Ono photocall!
• Let employees have a "fiesta siesta" - an extra-long morning or afternoon tea break in return for a donation to Brake.
• Team up with a local cafe to provide cheap or free caffeinated drinks on your special day in return for donations to Brake or just ask for a donation for Brake for every cup of coffee or tea drunk on Wake up for Work day. (But remind staff that the effects of caffeine are temporary and the only solution to tiredness is sleep.)
• Hold a boss vs employee pillow fight with a point for every direct hit. For every hit you receive, you have to make a donation to Brake! 

Step 3: In the run up to the day, deliver awareness-raising training or education to staff, particularly, drivers, about the dangers of tired driving and the importance of drivers getting plenty of sleep before driving, taking breaks every two hours or sooner if tired, and stopping somewhere safe and having a snooze if they ever feel tired at the wheel. If you are too busy to do formal training, include education about driver tiredness in your staff ebulletin or in messages on pay slips. (If you are a subscriber to Brake's Fleet Safety Forum you can download free research and guidance specifically for fleet managers on a range of  driver tiredness topics, such as sleep conditions.)  

Step 4:  Have a great Wake Up For Work Day! Give themed prizes (such as new pillows!) for the best pyjamas worn! Use the day to ask all drivers to sign up to Brake's Pledge2DriveSafely which includes a pledge to not drive tired, or use the day to kick-start a series of road safety awareness raising initiatives within your company on the themes of this Pledge.   

Step 5:  Get media coverage for your activities.  Send a press release to your local media, along with any photographs from your Wake Up For Work Day, to raise awareness in your local community about the dangers of driving tired.  You can use Brake's template Wake Up For Work press release to help, and if you would like Brake to send your press release to local media, then email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . 

Step 6:  Donate all the funds raised during your Wake Up For Work Day to Brake, using the paying in slip included in your pack.  All funds donated will help to support our crucial support work with with families bereaved by road crashes. 

Call Martin on 01484 559909 or email  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  for more tips and ideas to help your event be a success.

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Our flickr pix of fundraisers having fun 

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