Bromsgrove’s Joe Baker Runs 5K a Day to Honour 7,000 Lives Lost to Suicide in Construction

Bromsgrove’s Joe Baker is Running to Rebuild What Suicide Took Away….

Joe Baker from Bromsgrove is running 5K every single day in May to raise awareness of the construction industry’s suicide crisis — a challenge inspired by his own battle with addiction and mental health, and dedicated to the 7,000 lives already lost.

Joe Baker, a Bromsgrove tradesman who once attempted suicide and battled addiction, is now running 5K every day this May to raise awareness of the silent mental health crisis gripping the construction industry.
Over 7,000 construction workers have died by suicide in the past decade — enough lives lost to build 150,000 homes, 80 schools and 3 hospitals.
96% of tradespeople work in isolation, and 64% turn to alcohol or drugs just to cope — yet support across the industry remains dangerously inadequate.
Joe’s challenge supports The Lost City donation campaign, urging urgent action to prevent more lives being lost, more futures being erased, and an invisible city from growing any larger.

Every single day this May, Bromsgrove boy, Joe Baker will be lacing up his trainers and running 5 kilometres.

No rest days. No shortcuts. Just one man running daily in honour of the thousands who never got to keep going.

Joe isn’t training for a medal — he’s taking on this relentless challenge to raise awareness of the mental health crisis facing construction workers, and to support The Lost City campaign. It’s a personal mission, rooted in pain, purpose, and the hope that things can change.

The Man Behind the Miles

Joe is the founder of Second City Screed, a respected Midlands construction business. But before that, life looked very different.

“I attempted suicide. I was deep into addiction. Really, really struggling.”

His lowest point came before he joined the construction industry. Covid, isolation, and alcohol nearly broke him. But through reaching out and getting sober, Joe began the long road back. Now he’s putting one foot in front of the other — literally — to make sure others get that same chance.

“It was talking to people that saved me. That and becoming sober.”

The Challenge: 5K Every Day for May

Throughout the month of May, Joe is running 5 kilometres every single day — no matter the weather, how sore he feels, or how much life gets in the way.

“I haven’t trained for this. But that’s the point — it’s meant to be hard. Because this issue is hard.”

Each run is a symbol of the mental load so many in the industry carry silently. Fatigue. Financial stress. Loneliness. Grief. These runs are for them — for the ones still battling, and the ones already lost.

What Is the Lost City?

Joe’s challenge supports The Lost City campaign — a powerful initiative that visualises what the construction industry has lost to suicide:

🏠 150,000 homes
🏫 80 schools
🏥 3 hospitals

That’s what 7,000 lost lives could have built in the past decade — if they’d been here.

But this isn’t just about missed output. It’s about fathers, sons, friends and colleagues whose lives were cut short.

73% of tradespeople have experienced mental ill health
65% face severe financial pressure
96% have worked in isolation
64% use alcohol or drugs to cope
Last year alone, the sector lost £2.74 billion to mental health-related absence

It’s not a personal problem — it’s an industry-wide emergency.

“We Build the Country — But Who Builds Us Back Up?”

“The roads, the railways, the homes we live in — they’re all built by people like us. But we’re undervalued. Underappreciated. And when we break, no one notices until it’s too late.”

Joe’s message is simple: enough is enough. Through his 5K-a-day challenge, he’s raising money for Band of Builders and Construction Sport, charities at the forefront of suicide prevention and mental health support in the trades.

How You Can Help

You can back Joe’s mission in three ways:

Donate – Support the campaign to fund lifesaving support.
Share – Amplify the message. Let others know about the Lost City.
Talk – Whether you’re in trades or not, break the silence around mental health.

Because the buildings we live, learn, and heal in wouldn’t exist without construction workers — and they deserve to live full, supported lives too.

BACKGROUND

As of the first quarter of 2024, the construction industry employment figures for the UK regions are as follows:

England: Approximately 1,800,000 individuals are employed in the construction sector.
Scotland: Around 150,000 people work in construction.
Wales: The construction industry employs about 100,000 individuals.
Northern Ireland: Approximately 50,000 people are employed in construction.

This workforce is predominantly male, with women comprising about 12.5% of the total.

The industry also has a notable proportion of self-employed workers; in 2020, out of the 2.1 million construction workers, approximately 727,000 were self-employed. In terms of regional distribution, over a third of construction businesses in 2020 were located in London and the South East of England.

The industry faces challenges related to workforce demographics, including an ageing workforce and a shortage of skilled labour. These issues have been exacerbated by factors such as Brexit and the COVID-19 pandemic, which have impacted the availability of both domestic and migrant workers.

Efforts are ongoing to address these challenges through initiatives aimed at improving training, attracting new talent, and enhancing diversity within the sector. However, the industry continues to grapple with issues related to mental health, job security, and working conditions, which affect the overall well-being and productivity of its workforce.