{"id":483308,"date":"2023-07-26T11:49:10","date_gmt":"2023-07-26T10:49:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/?p=483308"},"modified":"2023-07-26T11:49:10","modified_gmt":"2023-07-26T10:49:10","slug":"lighthouse-club-charity-reports-217000-loss-on-investment-portfolio","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.constructionnews.co.uk\/health-and-safety\/mind-matters\/lighthouse-club-charity-reports-217000-loss-on-investment-portfolio-26-07-2023\/","title":{"rendered":"Lighthouse Club charity reports \u00a3217,000 loss on investment portfolio"},"content":{"rendered":"

Construction industry charity Lighthouse Club lost \u00a3217,000 last year on an investment portfolio of \u00a31.75m, although it said its position has since recovered significantly.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Ipswich-based charity tackles mental health in the construction industry, providing administrative, financial and emotional support to struggling workers and affected families. It operates a helpline, as well as providing courses on mental health and suicide awareness.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lighthouse Club, which receives no public funding, had a total income of \u00a33.7m last year, with \u00a32.1m in donations and additional money coming from \u2018other trading activities\u2019, such as the delivery of contracts for the Construction Industry Training Board.<\/span><\/p>\n

The charity spent \u00a31.5m delivering charitable services, and placed a further \u00a31m in stocks and bonds through investment manager Brewin Dolphin. This sum bolstered \u00a3750,000 it had already invested in 2020 (\u00a3500,000) and 2017 (\u00a3250,000) into a \u2018moderate\u2019-risk portfolio.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, the charity made a loss of \u00a3217,000 on its total financial investment of \u00a31.75m last year. Lighthouse said the loss was \u201ca result of the timing of the year-end coinciding with a reduction in stock-market sentiment\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a follow-up statement provided to <\/span>Construction News<\/span><\/i>, Lighthouse chief executive Bill Hill said: \u201cThis was a writedown of 12.4 per cent on the \u00a31.75m investment with Brewin Dolphin due to stock-market fluctuations.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe charity audit and governance committee considered this to be within market norms, considering the prevailing market conditions. The charity is monitoring this closely on an ongoing basis and there has been a significant recovery since 31 December 2022. The loss now stands at 2.5 per cent (\u00a344,000).\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Charity accounts also reveal that the cost of Lighthouse\u2019s annual Christmas-lunch fundraising event increased by \u00a3112,000 in 2022 \u2013 up 49 per cent on the previous year \u2013 to \u00a3334,000. While funding generated by the lunch also increased, from \u00a3410,000 to \u00a3463,000, net income from the event fell by 30 per cent.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hill told <\/span>CN<\/span><\/i>: \u201cDue to market economics, we kept the price of tables static in 2022 and absorbed the significant inflationary price increases in event costs and celebrities. There was also a significant cost in the supply of auction prizes for the event that generated lower margins than expected.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The 2022 Christmas lunch saw 900 people gather at an event in Westminster, with celebrities in attendance including former footballers Glen Hoddle and Paul Merson, as well as ex-rugby player and presenter David Flatman and boxer David Haye.<\/span><\/p>\n

During the year, Lighthouse brought case managers and helpline operators in-house, and created a wellbeing education team to deliver free programmes to builders, thereby increasing its average number of staff from 14 to 23; the total has since risen to 31.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The charity\u2019s staff and office costs rose by 84 per cent, to \u00a31.9m, while the combined pay of \u2018key management\u2019 figures increased from \u00a3126,000 to \u00a3186,000, as a third key manager was hired. The key managers are the chief executive, chief operating officer, and head of partnerships and fundraising.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hill told <\/span>CN<\/span><\/i>: \u201cWe really had a stellar year in 2022. We saw a 23 per cent increase in the number of construction workers and their families that we supported [and] we introduced some major new services: text support, wellbeing education, the Make it Visible on site [campaign and] critical-incident site support.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe brought our helpline in-house, created a new case-management system and changed our accounting system, to name but a few [other achievements].<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSince Covid struck, we have been transitioning from a charity that relied heavily (over 80 per cent) on event income to fund our charitable services, to a charity delivering services that deliver a portfolio of welfare and wellbeing services that provides a safety net to all construction workers and their families in in the UK and Ireland that are struggling.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis is now funded by a growing community of companies and individuals donating an annual pledge. It has been incredible to experience the generous industry support we are receiving, from the largest corporations to the smallest businesses and individual workers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Construction industry charity Lighthouse Club lost \u00a3217,000 last year on an investment portfolio of \u00a31.75m, although it said its position has since recovered significantly. The Ipswich-based charity tackles mental health in the construction industry, providing administrative, financial and emotional support to struggling workers and affected families. It operates a helpline, as well as providing courses …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":90383,"featured_media":483350,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ep_exclude_from_search":false},"categories":[577],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\t\n\t\n\t\n