Featuring a QR code, the team will be taken to the Make It Visible website spearheaded by the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity. The Make It Visible campaign was launched to help signpost people working in construction to a wide variety of welfare and wellbeing support, whether emotional, physical or financial, and includes a 24-hour phone line and local support groups.
Lovell has ordered 10,000 stickers and is talking to its team across its sites in the region about the new stickers as it rolls the scheme out. They are also providing information and resources to support a positive wellbeing culture across the business and offering guidance on how to reach out for support if people need help. Lovell is also putting the stickers and information in new starter packs to help start the conversation about workforce wellbeing.
To launch the initiative, Sarah Bolton, chief operating officer of the Lighthouse Charity, attended the Lovell and Repton Property Developments site, Bowlers Green at Hopton-on-Sea, to kick-start the initiative and talk to the team.
Kelly Starkings, managing quantity surveyor at Lovell and a devoted FIR ambassador, said: "At Lovell, we are dedicated to fostering an environment where our team knows that there is support for mental health, which we know can affect anyone and at any time. We have an employee assistance program, mental health first aiders and FIR (fairness, inclusion and respect) ambassadors, as well as ‘quiet rooms’ across our sites. These hard hat stickers provide a subtle yet powerful means of encouraging individuals to engage in conversation and seek support when needed, and to make it really visible for our team and sub-contractors how to get support. We are working closely with the Lighthouse Charity and this is a fantastic initiative which we hope will benefit our team.”
Sarah Bolton, COO of the Lighthouse Charity added, “We are delighted to be working with Lovell Homes and it was clear that the teams on site were very engaged with the Make It Visible initiative. It’s vital that the workforce is able to access all of the charitable services we can offer, knowing that support is completely free and confidential and easy to access. We need to reduce the stigma of talking openly about wellbeing issues, particularly mental health and ensure that a ‘safe space’ is provided for people to share any concerns they have and if need be reach out for professional support.”
Cllr Greg Peck, Chair of the Board of Repton, said: “I wholeheartedly support the work Lovell have been undertaking relating to wellbeing and mental health as I know this is a really important issue within the construction industry.”
Lovell is a partnership housing expert and a leading provider of innovative and high quality residential construction and regeneration developments across the UK, building homes, sourcing land and investing in communities. It is a trusted and reliable partner, with great people trusted to deliver great homes, developing long term partnerships with housing associations, local authorities and other partners for over 50 years.
Lighthouse Charity is the only charity that provides emotional, physical and financial wellbeing support to the construction community and their families in the UK and Ireland. . For more information, visit: https://www.lighthouseclub.org/
