The Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity has just released its 2020 Impact Report which demonstrates the vital support they provided in 2020.
Against the backdrop of the Covid-19 pandemic and three national lock downs, the charity was able to provide a lifeline to 2264 families in crisis and delivered £1.287M of charitable giving. For the first time ever, the report also details the social value created by the charity which equates to £7.48 for every £1 of charitable spend.
It was of little surprise to see increased demands on the charity’s 24/7 Construction Industry Helpline resources and the number of complex cases needing multiple interventions increased by 70%. These cases were managed by case workers who have expertise in pulling together all the available resources to provide all round support.
40% of calls handled by the charity’s caseworkers mentioned struggles with mental health issues and 4% of callers mentioned an attempted suicide.
21% of cases were for issues directly related to Covid-19 and the charity responded quickly to urgent requests for financial support with household bills, emergency food deliveries and helping with debt.
Despite these challenges, the charity’s case workers leveraged an amazing £564,000 by working with 3rd party sources before releasing charitable grants, meaning more support, to a higher quality and at a lower cost per case.
The report also details major developments in the charity’s education and training programme. In response to the restrictions on face to face training, all courses were augmented so that they could be delivered online and free of charge, with over 1500 people attending courses ranging from coping with stress through to resilience and mindfulness. The ongoing success of a major national project funded by the CITB delivered a further 41 Mental Health First Aid Instructors into the industry.
One of the highlights of the year was the launch of a dedicated free helpline number for the construction community in the Republic of Ireland and working with the Construction Industry Federation is ensuring that construction colleagues in Ireland can access the same support as their counterparts in the UK.
Bill Hill, CEO of the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity said, “Our hard work continues and as well as detailing our achievements so far, our impact report also outlines our accelerated plans for expanding the charitable services we offer. We must ensure we continue to pro-actively support the industry’s mental wellbeing and make our services easy to access and freely available to everyone and I am proud to say that we have been able to provide life changing support to our construction community.
But our work is only possible due to the fantastic support we receive and I would like to thank every single person and company that has helped us, especially during these difficult and uncertain times. You have helped us take another step towards our mission to ensure that no construction worker or their family is alone in a crisis.”
