THE one year anniversary of the launch of the Lighthouse Charity’s Wellbeing Academy has been celebrated with the unveiling of new courses to support everyone in the construction sector.
The academy offers training including e-learning, Lighthouse wellbeing exclusives, MHFA accredited training, and bespoke support for wellbeing champions and mental health first aiders.
In 2023, the academy introduced self-paced e-learning to respond to the needs of a diverse and transient workforce – offering complete flexibility around hectic work and home lives. The resources were so successful that, as well as new courses being added throughout the year, the training has now been augmented dependant on individual needs, offering three distinct levels of ‘bronze, silver, and gold’ learning.
Bronze introduces each subject, the key topic areas, and an understanding of the language used at the next level. Silver presents scenarios where learners need to demonstrate their understanding through application of the skills learned so far, and gold uses case studies to illustrate real life situations and challenges.
As well as an extensive array of emotional and physical wellbeing topics, new modules to support the financial challenges experienced by many of the industry’s workforce have also been added and include the topics of borrowing, controlling credit, and tackling debt.
The academy also offers free Lighthouse wellbeing exclusives aimed at empowering individuals, teams, and leaders with new knowledge and skills across several topics of emotional and physical wellbeing.
The Suicide Awareness training is just one of these and the course is designed to give people the confidence to start a conversation and help them identify the signs that somebody is experiencing suicidal thoughts. The tutor-led online course is in high demand with 341 people taking part in 2023, reflecting the industry’s desire to raise awareness and understanding of this difficult and highly sensitive subject.
New wellbeing exclusive courses for 2024 include menopause awareness and menopause for management, which identify how to support someone experiencing menopause from a workplace perspective either as an employee or as an employer.
The academy added that it is ‘constantly evolving’ to reflect the needs of the industry and new for 2024 is a six-week course to enhance the professional support already offered by the charity to the industry’s 12,000 wellbeing champions and mental health first aiders.
The training supports those that bear the emotional weight of the workforce and ensures that they can manage their own wellbeing whilst providing continued support to others.
Sarah Bolton, chief operating officer of the Lighthouse Charity, said, “The training on offer supports every person in our industry, so whether you’re a self-employed tradesperson, site operative, project manager, or office-based professional there is something for everyone. To support a positive wellbeing culture in our industry, it’s critical that we proactively develop our workforce and equip them with the tools and soft skills to negotiate the challenges of everyday life and working in what can be a very stressful environment.
“Improving our workforce wellbeing is a collective responsibility and we hope that our learners will in turn, inspire others to deliver cultural change within the industry.”
