This year’s Mental Health Awareness Week is 18-24 May and to support the campaign’s
theme of ‘kindness’, the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity is hosting a series of free
online lunchtime mental health training workshops.
From mindfulness and meditation, to resilience and controlling stress, anyone working in
construction can take part in these bite-sized online sessions, The interactive courses will
start at 13.30 each day and last for 45 minutes.
To take part all you need is access to an email address and the internet, whether via
smartphone, tablet or laptop.
Monday 18 th May -Coping with stress – covers pressure and stress, causes,
coping mechanisms, and how we can build our resilience to stress.
· Tuesday 19 th May -Work, life balance – what is good ‘work life balance’ and how to
achieve it.
· Wednesday 20 th May -Mindfulness – what is mindfulness about and how you can
implement mindfulness into your day.
· Thursday 21 st May – Resilience – how to build resilience and top tips to take away to
implement to keep your resilience growing.
· Friday 22 nd May – Meditation -A simple introduction to meditation from a construction
professional explaining how a consistent practice can benefit your mental health every day.
Compared to this time last year, calls to the charity’s 24/7 Construction Industry Helpline
have increased by 55%, reflecting the rising levels of anxiety and insecurity within the
construction industry and the dramatic impact of the COVID 19 pandemic.
Bill Hill, CEO of the Lighthouse Construction Industry said, “Our mission is to ensure that no
worker feels alone in a crisis and as part of our charitable giving we look after the physical,
mental and financial wellbeing of our construction community in the UK and Ireland. Now,
more than ever we need to ensure that our construction families in crisis receive the support
that they need and so the theme of ‘kindness’ for this year’s Mental Health Awareness Week
resonates perfectly with us. We are delighted to be able to offer our wellbeing workshops
completely free of charge to help our industry during this very difficult time.
If you need support now, or know someone that does, the charity provides a 24 /7
Construction Industry Helpline; UK 0345 605 1956 and ROI 1800 939 122 which is the first
point of contact to access a range of free and confidential support services including
emergency financial aid, advice on welfare and mental wellbeing and support on legal, tax
and debt management matters.
If you’re not ready to talk then there is the helpline mobile app which helps people
experiencing stress, anxiety or depression as well as providing access to other areas of
support such as anger management, drug and alcohol dependency, debt management, legal
advice, and emergency financial aid.
Book your workshop now
Crisis Appeal
In response to the COVID 19 pandemic, the charity recently launched a Construction
Workers Crisis Appeal. to provide crucial and immediate support to construction workers in
crisis.
About the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity
The Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity is the only charity that provides financial and
emotional support to the construction community and their families who have suffered a
injury, long term illness or just need some extra support.
The charity provides a 24 /7 Construction Industry Helpline UK 0345 605 1956 and ROI
1800 939 122 which is the first point of contact to access a range of free and confidential
support services including; emergency financial, advice on welfare and mental wellbeing,
and support on legal, tax and debt management matters.
Mental health continues to be a huge issue within construction and as one of the founder
members of the industry’s ‘Building Mental Health’ programme, the charity has been at the
forefront of driving momentum to ensure a better mental health culture within the industry.
Through this activity the charity has created an online portal of information about mental
health, www.buildingmentalhealth.net to help companies start and develop the process of
building a positive mental health culture in their organisation. The contributors are a group of
volunteers who have shared their industry knowledge and experience and pooled together
the latest thinking and best practice. From downloadable tool box talks and videos, through
to advice on how to access mental health training, all the information is free of charge,
copyright free and can be tailored to individual needs.
In conjunction with software company COINS, the charity has also developed the
Construction Helpline mobile app for Android and iOS) which helps people experiencing
stress, anxiety or depression as well as providing access to other areas of support such as
anger management, drug and alcohol dependency, debt management, legal advice, and
emergency financial aid.
In response to industry demand, the app has also been developed to meet the needs of
companies with major sites and joint venture projects who want to provide additional site-
specific real-time information such as details on health and safety briefings and site
inductions.