Our charity partner
FMB National President Jan Etchells has chosen The Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity (The Lighthouse Club) as our charity partner. Find out how you can pledge your support today.
We are proud to be a supporter of The Lighthouse Club, the Construction Industry Charity, which has pledged that no construction worker and their family will ever be alone in a crisis.
The charity operates the Construction Industry Helpline and also supports construction companies by providing tools, resources and employee assistance programmes to support staff.
FMB National President Jan Etchells has chosen The Lighthouse Club as our national charity partner for the duration of her tenure.
The statistics
- Every single working day in the UK two construction workers take their own life.
- Every year over 2.4 million working days are lost through injury or illness in the construction industry.
- Stress, depression or anxierty accounts for a fifth of all work-related illness.
- Every year there are over 82,000 new cases of work-related illness that can be directly attributed to working in the construction industry.
- The Lighthouse Club currently provide support to over 2264 families in crisis.
- 93% of those receiving help stating that they would recommend their services.
How to access support
Construction Industry Helpline and app
The charity operates the Construction Industry Helpline and app in the UK and Ireland, offering free and confidential emotional and emergency financial support to those who work in the construction industry and their families.
The app is available for free on iOS and Android and provides advice for mental, physical and financial wellbeing. The app is designed to be a self-help tool that makes it easy to find more information on all aspects of wellbeing, and provides guidance on how users can help themselves, as well as how to contact professionals for assistance if required. Find more info on the app on the Lighthouse Club website, or download directly from Google Play or the App Store.
Mental health and wellbeing training
The Lighthouse Club is a CITB approved training organisation offering masterclass sessions, Mental Health First Aid England training and mental health training for managers. Find out about the different types of mental health first aid training available on their website.
Mental health in the workplace
The Lighthouse Club also provides a wide range of resources to help encourage conversations in the workplace. Resources include:
- A five-step framework to create a positive mental health culture at work;
- Building Mental Health portal, which inlcudes a charter and additional materials for Tool Box Talks; and
- Helpline packs for your construction site to help encourage conversations and ensure your employees know where to go for help.
Text HARDHAT to 85258 service
The Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity has added another route to vital wellbeing support by launching their text HARDHAT to 85258 service to provide immediate support to the construction community.
This latest addition to the charity’s extensive portfolio of support services underpins their mission to ensure that no construction worker or their family should be alone in a crisis.
The text HARDHAT to 85258 service will complement their existing 24/7 Construction Industry Helpline and Helpline App and offers immediate support to those who feel more comfortable texting with someone rather than holding a one to one telephone conversation.
Just like the charity’s helpline, the text HARDHAT to 85258 service is available at any time of the day or night and offers free, anonymous and confidential support to anyone in the industry who is feeling overwhelmed, stressed, anxious, suicidal or simply struggling with everyday life.
Individuals can access support simply by texting the word HARDHAT to 85258. This will put them in touch with trained volunteers who will ask for a little more information about what the problem is, with the individual sharing what they feel comfortable with. The volunteers listen without judgement and can provide support and guidance on a huge variety of issues including; feeling anxious, relationship problems, loneliness and isolation, abuse, addiction, depression, bullying and harassment, self-harm, and suicidal thoughts and feelings.
The text conversation will only finish when the volunteer has helped the person to reach a calm and safe place. They will also be able to provide a plan so that users can understand how to help themselves going forward and signpost to further resources or tools to provide more expert support.
Get involved
The Lighthouse Club is the only charity that provides mental, physical and financial wellbeing support to those working in the construction industry. There are many ways to support The Lighthouse Club and the work that they do to help others. Options include:
- Purchase Helpline Packs for your workforce
- Hold a Lighthouse Day
- Become and individual or company supporter
- Become a Charity Champion
- Join a local club and volunteer your time
2020 Impact Report
2020 was an exceptionally tough year for the industry, and the Lighthouse Club contributed immensely to supporting those who needed it most, despite facing unprecedented challenges itself. Key acheivements included:
To find out more about how the charity supported builders in 2020, download the full Impact report below:
