The East Anglian Forum for the Built Environment annual dinner raised over £1,600 for the Lighthouse Club charity.
Over 140 professionals from the construction and built environment community in East Anglia were in attendance at Stoke by Nayland Golf Club. The Lighthouse Club charity aims to tackle the mental health crisis within the construction industry and also provides financial and emotional support to working within the community and their families who have suffered an injury or long-term illness.
Statistically, every working day in the UK, two construction workers take their own life. Last year the charity’s helpline received 1,662 calls and provided £1,229m of support to our construction families in crisis. They provide a free Construction Industry App which provides information, advice and guidance on a variety of wellbeing issues including stress, anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts.
The Lighthouse Club is also a founder member of Building Mental Health, an online portal developed by industry volunteers to create a five-step framework to help companies develop a positive mental health culture within their organisations.
Bill Hill CEO of the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity said: “We were honoured and privileged to have been chosen by the East Anglian Branch of the FBE as their charity partner for their annual dinner.
We receive no public funding and rely on the generosity of those within our industry to help support their own, so we were absolutely thrilled that over £1,600 was raised. A huge thank you goes out to everyone who donated so generously on the night, their contributions will make a real difference to our construction workers in need.”
Clare Friel, who is on the committee for the FBE and helped to organise the event, said: “It’s great to get so many like-minded professionals from the construction industry under the one roof, celebrating the continued growth of the built environment within our region and raising money for a cause that has undoubtedly impacted so many lives.”
The FBE East Anglia hosts monthly networking breakfasts with topical guest speakers and has over 1,000 members nationwide from a wide variety of backgrounds – multinational construction companies, cost consultants, architects and designers, property developers, engineers, planners and consultants, legal & financial specialists and other similar service professionals.
The current chairman of the FBE East Anglia is Mark Bailey of Barnes Construction. If you would like further information on joining the FBE please visit the FBE website.