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Constructive Voices Radio The conversation is building
Jackie De Burca talks to Bill Hill, chief executive of the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity. The charity has been in existence since 1956 and has evolved immensely over the decades.
The Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity and its extensive network are doing phenomenal work through a variety of channels and initiatives. This episode investigates their work and how it has resulted in 125 active rescues to date. Active rescues refer to people who were considering suicide and through the charity’s support did not take that route, after all.
#MakeItVisible is a free workforce wellbeing and welfare portal for all in construction
The Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity has partnered with CITB and Samaritans to create a wellbeing support tool as part of the industry-wide initiative called Make It Visible.
The Make It Visible campaign and portal aims to make welfare and wellbeing support visible on every construction site, helping to reduce the stigma around the subject and increase awareness of the support pathways available. Having secured over £400,000 in funding from CITB, the #MakeItVisible portal was created earlier this year to support the initiative.
The portal provides a wide range of resources, covering themes of emotional, physical, and financial wellbeing. It aims to help individuals recognise when they’re struggling and how to cope with the challenges they’re facing. For each area, there is an extensive list of organisations that can provide further in-depth advice and support.
Research shows that stress, depression, or anxiety accounts for 27% of all work-related illness in construction. Tragically, the charity also reveals that two construction workers in the UK take their own lives each day. The charity’s mission is to ensure that no construction worker or their family feels alone in a crisis, and that they get the support they need before it’s too late.
The Make It Visible campaign also has a taskforce of people who are dedicated to visiting construction companies, builders’ merchants, hire centres, and sites across the UK and Ireland to get the conversation started and raise awareness of the free resources. The team has spoken to almost 30,000 people and visited almost 500 sites since the on site tours started in February last year.
The portal is currently encouraging visitors to take part in the world’s biggest mental health check-in, One Million Lives. This free tool has been developed by mental health professionals to help users assess their current state of mind and better understand the complexities of mental health. One Million Lives aims to create a global ripple effect by encouraging users to share the tool with friends and family.
Bill Hill, Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity CEO, said: “We have been overwhelmed by the support from our industry to take on the challenge of improving workforce welfare and wellbeing as a unified force. This new portal curates all the amazing free services from various charities in the UK and Ireland and simplifies access for anyone seeking emotional, physical or financial help. The CITB has been instrumental in making this happen. There is much more to do but this is a great step forward.”
Tim Balcon, CITB Chief Executive, said: “We know that there is a huge mental health crisis in the construction industry, and we must do more to support workers and their families. The statistics presented by the Lighthouse Charity’s research are truly devastating, and with World Mental Health Day upon us, I urge anyone who is struggling right now to reach out to the charity’s helpline.
“CITB has been making improvements to ensure employees get the wellbeing support they need, and I feel very passionately about carrying this through to industry. The work we are doing with the Lighthouse Charity will help drive long term culture change and promote fairness, inclusion, and respect across workforces.
“There is a great selection of resources online, and I hope that this will make support more accessible to the wider industry. When all workers can access support, without fear of stigma, lives will be saved and attracting new entrants will be easier.”
Bill gained over 20 years’ experience holding senior positions in blue-chip giants Hewlett-Packard and Sage PLC. He has a passion for customer service and has a wealth of experience across the major business disciplines of marketing, sales, operations, and finance. Bill trained as an accountant and holds diplomas from INSEAD, Cranfield University, as well as CIMA qualifications. Most recently, Bill qualified as a Mental Health First Aid instructor.
He joined the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity in 2013 and since then has played a major role in significantly growing the profile and significance of its charitable work within the construction community.
The charity now operates a 24/7 Industry Helpline, it has also developed a construction-focused Health and wellbeing APP and plays a central role in “Make It Visible”, the construction industry’s major new initiative to improve workforce Welfare and Wellbeing.
“There is a big difference between doing things right and doing right things. Developing a strategy to improve workforce welfare and wellbeing in our industry is the right thing to do! If you look after your people … your people will look after your business.”
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