There has been a 95% increase in charitable giving and an increase of 23% in the number of the industry’s workforce seeking support, the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity’s report has found.
The Charity’s 2021 Impact Report revealed an increase in people needing support, with 47% of calls being for immediate financial support and 1,787 cases needing intensive caseworker intervention – a 10% increase on the previous year.
Caseworkers review all complex cases and pull together multiple support providers to ensure sustainable support for the beneficiary. This service often includes immediate financial assistance to meet the costs of daily living, as well as access to telephone counselling to support mental wellbeing.
During 2021, the caseworkers leveraged £1.43m from third parties. This support included accessing benefit entitlements, supplying white goods and acquiring match funding to pay for home adaptations for those incapacitated by injury or illness.
Moreover, 31% of workers contacting the helpline mentioned a mental health problem, with the Charity referring 233 people for further specialist support to help with a variety of emotional wellbeing issues.
Bill Hill, CEO of the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity, said: “Our figures show that over 90% of our calls for help come from the trades and the ‘boots on the ground’ workforce. We are pleased to see that they are reaching out for support but it also means that we have to work even harder to ensure that we are getting our pro-active support to them at an early stage so that problems do not escalate out of control.
“We’re already addressing this with our ‘Help Inside the Hard Hat On Site’ campaign and our team are visiting sites and builders’ merchants across the country to ensure we get the message in at grass roots level.”
Sarah Bolton, director of charitable services, said: “In an industry where two construction workers are taking their own life every day, it is vital that the hard-to-reach groups know about the support we can give them.
“We are working tirelessly to ensure that we maximise the access points to our charitable services and increase our partnerships with other providers to give our workforce the specialist support they need. Our ultimate aim is to fulfil our mission of ensuring that no construction worker or their family feels alone in a crisis.”
>>Read more from the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity here.
