This year the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity marks 60 years of delivering financial and welfare support to the construction community.

Since 1956, the Charity has helped over 15,000 construction workers and their families through troubled times of hardship and despair, but so much more is needed. In its 60th anniversary year it has launched a national campaign called: “One day… to help our own.”

The Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity is challenging all 360,000 companies in the sector to take just one day of their year and make it ‘Lighthouse Day’.

So, what can your organisation do to help? You can register by visiting www.lighthouseclub.org/Events, where you’ll receive a fundraising pack that has plenty of ideas on the kind of activities you might consider from abseils to auctions, fancy dress days to fun runs.

Shocking statistics recently published by the Health and Safety Executive highlight the dangers of working in the construction industry:

  • Every year there are on average 40 fatalities on building sites
  • Every year there are over 2,000 major accidents that incapacitate the worker in such a way they cannot return to work
  • Every year there are over 69,000 new cases of work related illness reported that can be directly attributed to working within construction
  • Over 45% of all occupational cancer cases in the UK are directly attributed to working in construction
  • Every year over 1.7m man-days are lost through injury or illness in our industry.

Bill Hill, chief executive officer of the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity, said: “We want to make our 60th year a definitive one, a year where we can say that we institutionalised a National Lighthouse Day. The charity receives no public finance and relies on the support from within the industry. If we can reach the 360,000 companies in construction and just 1% register for a National Lighthouse Day and raise £500 each, then we could see the Charity raise over £1.5m. Every pound raised will help us continue our valuable work which is needed more than ever.