Case workers at Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity helped lever £562,000 of furlough money and benefit entitlements for construction workers that might otherwise have gone unclaimed.

The charity saw their cases increase by 70% as the Covid pandemic took hold and many callers to the charity’s helpline struggled to understand their basic entitlements such as the government furlough scheme and other benefits. The intervention of the case workers has ensured better financial stability for those in need.

The charity adapted their Mental Health First Aid Instructor courses for online delivery and trained up 214 instructors who in turn helped over 1500 people to receive free wellbeing training, ranging from coping with stress to mindfulness and resilience.

A dedicated free phone helpline number was also launched for the construction community in the Republic of Ireland.

Support did not end there because during 2020, they also developed a Helpline app which included a geo locator to ensure that users are provided with support in their local area.  Another new feature provides simple to understand and unbiased financial information. At a time when financial security was paramount to so many, the app has provided a financial lifeline which in turn has improved overall wellbeing.

Bill Hill, CEO of the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity said:

We know that the Covid crisis is not over and as a charity we expect to see the repercussions for some time, but we have been able to offer a real beacon of hope for our construction community. Our mission is to ensure that no construction worker or their family is alone in a crisis and by focussing all our efforts on delivering free pro-active and re-active support services to our construction community we can continue to provide a feeling of hope to those that need support and prevent situations escalating to crisis point.

Photo: American Public Power Association on Unsplash