The Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity has launched its text HARDHAT to 85258 service to provide immediate support to the construction community, underpinning the charity’s mission to ensure no worker or their family feels alone in a crisis.
The HARDHAT text service offers immediate support to those who feel more comfortable texting with someone rather than holding a one-to-one telephone conversation like the helpline the charity does offer.
The 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.
Texting the HARDHAT to 85258 will put people 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.
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.
Bill Hill, CEO of the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity, said: “Our new text HARDHAT to 85258 service comes at a time when many are still struggling daily with debt, anxiety and family issues. Some things are returning to normality but there are still far reaching consequences and underlying problems that remain as a result of the pandemic. These pressures are in addition to the normal stresses and strains of working in an industry where two workers take their own life every single working day and a fifth of all work related illness is due to stress, anxiety or depression.
“We know that there are many people who feel embarrassed or unable to reach out for help by calling someone. Introducing our text HARDHAT to 85258 service is yet another route to access support before situations escalate out of control. We cannot stress enough that it really doesn’t matter how small or large you think your problem is, there is always support available and we can provide that help through the channels that people feel most comfortable with.”
>>Read more from the Lighthouse Club here.
