A record £250,000 has been at this year’s Lighthouse Construction Industry’s charity lunch.
A capacity crowd gathered at the Westminster Park Plaza Hotel in London on December 6, with cash raised through table sales, live and silent auctions, heads and tails, a raffle and event sponsorship.
All the money will directly benefit construction families in crisis and help the charity to provide support to the sector, including mental health training, development of its helpline app and an increased portfolio of charitable services available through the organisation’s 24/7 construction industry helpline.
Guests were welcomed in by live music from 1852, whose band members work for Willmott Dixon interiors.
Each year, the charity awards the Peter Capel Cup in recognition of organisations that have made a substantial contribution to the charity’s work. This year the award went to two firms: Canary Wharf Contractors Fund and Heathrow Airport. Money donated by the Canary Wharf Contractors Fund was used to deliver mental health first aid training to SMEs across the UK whilst Heathrow Airport and its supply chain donated funds from a hard hat recycling scheme, a dragon boat day and a rugby day.
Lynn Way, president of the NASC (National Access and Scaffolding Confederation), also presented the charity with a cheque for £25,000 which was raised by members at the annual NASC awards event held recently.
Sky Sports presenters Vicky Gomersall and Julian Warren hosted proceedings and introduced boxing legend Frank Bruno and rugby aces Brian O’Driscoll, Matt Dawson, Phil Bennett and Willie John McBride.
Bill Hill, CEO of the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity said, “This has been a great day. We just can’t believe how hugely generous everyone has been because every year, our expectations are surpassed. This means that we can reach out to more construction families in crisis and continue to provide even more support at the ‘front end’ so that we can achieve our mission of ensuring that no worker should feel alone in a crisis.
“Thank you too, to all the volunteers who work so hard behind the scenes to make sure that this day goes well and of course to our event sponsors and supporters. The money raised will go towards continuing our vital helpline services and developing our Building Mental Health programme so that we can continue to support our construction families in need and make a real difference to people who have nowhere else to turn.”
