🚨 You Helped Save My Livelihood — Now I’m Fighting for It Again

🚨 I THOUGHT THIS PETITION HAD SAVED MY LIVELIHOOD. NINE YEARS IN, I’M FIGHTING FOR IT AGAIN.

Firstly, I need to say this clearly… I’m sorry this is such a long update.

But I am angry. I am upset. And I need people to understand what is really happening behind the parcels that get dropped at doors every single day.

When I started this petition, I was scared out of my mind.

I genuinely believed I was about to lose the work I rely on to survive.

Then something happened I will never forget.

Thousands of complete strangers stood with me.

You signed. You shared. You spoke up when I couldn’t

And because of you, I kept my livelihood.

I will always be grateful for that.

But I need to be honest with you…

I thought the fight was over. I was wrong.

 

💔 NINE YEARS OF MY LIFE

I have now spent around nine years delivering for Evri.

Nine years of my life.

Not a short-term job. Not a side thing. This has been my life.

Every single day has been built around it.

Around 60–80 parcels a day.

Around 150+ miles every day.

Around 12-hour days as normal.

That is my reality.

That is time away from home. Time away from family. Money going straight into fuel, tyres, repairs, insurance. Wear on my body. Wear on my mind.

And now… after all of that…

I’m being pushed even further.

 

🚨 ANOTHER 60+ MILES. ANOTHER 3–4 HOURS. FOR AROUND £30.

I am being told to take on more work on top of what I already do.

And let me be clear about what that means in real life.

That is another 60+ miles every single day.

That is another 3–4 hours of work every day.

For what?

Around £30.

£30 for hours of extra driving. Extra fuel. Extra wear. Extra exhaustion.

My already brutal 12-hour day doesn’t just get longer…

It becomes 15–16 hours of my life gone.

And the part that really breaks me is this:

I have been told very clearly that if I refuse, I could lose the work I already have.

Let that sink in.

After nearly nine years.

After hundreds of thousands of miles.

After everything I’ve already given.

My “choice” is this:

Take on more for almost nothing… or risk losing everything.

How is that fair? How is that even a choice?

 

😔 THIS FEAR HAS BEEN THERE FOR YEARS

This isn’t new.

For years I’ve felt like my work could be taken away at any moment.

I’ve been told I needed to take extremely heavy parcels or risk my work.

I’ve worked through health issues because I was scared of what would happen if I said no.

And when your income depends on that work…

You stop thinking normally.

You don’t just ask:

“Is this safe?”

You start asking:

“If I refuse, will I still have work tomorrow?”

That fear never leaves you.

It follows you home.

It sits with you at night.

 

📦 PARCELS FAR TOO HEAVY TO BE NORMAL

Over the years I have kept evidence of parcels that were far beyond what anyone should be handling alone.

I believe some have been up to around 40kg.

The stated limit is 15kg.

But I’ve still been the one lifting them. Carrying them. Delivering them. Alone.

Why?

Because when you’re constantly worried about losing your work, you don’t feel like you can say no.

You just get on with it.

Even when it’s too much.

Even when it’s not right.

 

💔 MY BODY HAS PAID THE PRICE

After years of this work, I developed a serious hernia.

I need to be careful and honest here.

I am not saying it was caused directly by the job in a medical sense.

But I am saying this:

After years of heavy lifting, long days, and constant strain… I have to question what it has done to my body.

And the hardest part?

I haven’t been able to have the surgery.

Because if I stop working to recover, I don’t earn.

So I carry on.

In pain.

Working through it.

That is the reality.

 

💷 NINE YEARS IN… AND SOME RATES ARE LOWER

After nearly a decade, you would expect things to improve.

But for some work, I am actually being paid less than I was years ago.

Meanwhile everything else has gone up:

Fuel has gone up.

Insurance has gone up.

Repairs have gone up.

Tyres have gone up.

Living costs have gone up.

Everything has gone up.

Except what I’m being paid.

And now I’m being asked to do even more for even less value.

It doesn’t make sense.

It doesn’t feel right.

 

📄 I DON’T EVEN HAVE MY OWN CONTRACT

I signed an agreement nine years ago.

But I was never given a copy of it.

Never.

I have now asked for it.

I have also asked how my existing work can be threatened if I don’t accept more.

After nine years, I deserve answers.

Not silence.

Not pressure.

Answers.

 

✊ THIS PETITION CHANGED EVERYTHING

This is the part I need people to understand.

This petition saved me.

Without it, I honestly don’t know what would have happened.

But here’s the part that still shocks me…

About two weeks after it started, I was asked to take it down.

I refused.

And I will not remove it.

Not because I want a fight.

Because I don’t.

I am exhausted.

I just want to work and live my life in peace.

But this petition became something bigger.

It became protection.

It meant I couldn’t just be ignored anymore.

 

❗ AND NOW I’M BACK HERE AGAIN

Look at what has happened:

I raised concerns.

➡️ I created this petition.
➡️ People supported me.
➡️ I kept my work.
➡️ Things changed again.
➡️ I was asked to remove the petition.
➡️ I refused.
➡️ And now I’m being told my existing work could be taken unless I accept more.

I am not saying everything is connected as fact.

But I am saying this honestly:

It feels like pressure. It feels like punishment. And it feels wrong.

 

⚖️ I HAVE NOW ESCALATED THIS

I have written directly to senior management.

I have asked for answers.

I have asked for my contract.

I have asked why refusing more work could mean losing what I already have.

I have raised the hours.

I have raised the miles.

I have raised the pay.

I have raised the heavy parcels.

I have raised the health concerns.

And I have made it very clear:

After nine years, I have evidence. Messages. Photos. Records.

And if this continues, I will be seeking independent legal advice.

Because I cannot just accept this anymore.

 

❤️ THIS IS BIGGER THAN ME NOW

This is not just about me anymore.

There are so many couriers out there doing long days like this.

People exhausted.

People worried about saying no.

People scared of losing everything if they speak up.

People trying to support families while being pushed to their limits.

I want that to change.

I want fairness.

I want safety to matter.

I want people to be able to say “this is too much” without fear.

 

🙏 TO EVERYONE WHO STOOD WITH ME

You didn’t just sign a petition.

You helped me keep my life together when I was at breaking point.

And now I’m asking again.

Not for special treatment.

Not for drama.

For fairness.

For honesty.

For respect.

I don’t want to lose what I’ve spent nearly a decade building because I asked a simple question:

How is this reasonable?

My hope is still simple.

That one day I can say:

They listened. They understood. They did the right thing.

Until then… I will keep speaking.

Because I have no other choice.

If you stood with me before, please stand with me again.

Please share this.

Not just for me.

But for every courier who is too scared to speak.

Thank you for reading.

And thank you for standing with me.

— Richard