Last November, Lovell hosted the #MakeItVisible team at their Valentine Park development in King’s Lynn.
In 2023, Lovell came up with a simple but powerful idea to promote wellbeing in the workforce – the Curry & Chats Initiative. This initiative has resulted in barriers being broken between management and site staff, more open lines of communication in the team and money raised for the Lighthouse Charity. This simple idea has gone on to make a significant impact.
The idea was thought up by Adrian Boulter, Lovell Health, Safety & Environmental Manager, Wellbeing Champion and indeed, recent curry chef. He was determined to provide a ‘listening ear’ in an informal setting, a space for workers to talk about everything from mental health to home life, or at the very least, provide a touchpoint for them to reach out to when they felt ready. Following its success, the Lovell team recently organised one of our #MakeItVisible site visits to correspond with a curry lunch.
The events melded seamlessly. The #MIV team delivered impactful speeches with insights into their own struggles before ensuring the team knew about the help available from Lighthouse. With barriers down, the team naturally fell into open conversation as they tucked into hot bowls of curry. With glowing reports the next day, it was clearly a resounding success.
Adrian said, “It’s great to see so many people on-site stopping to listen and opening up about their own experiences. Having been where they are, I know how hard it is to battle mental health while trying to put on a brave face. But knowing there’s support available, whether through the Lighthouse Charity or just a friendly face willing to listen, can make all the difference.”
Lovell are no strangers to the Lighthouse Charity. As well as the Curry & Chat Initiative, they have also rolled out bespoke hard hat stickers throughout the East Anglia region, giving their workforce immediate access to our contact details for free, 24/7 support.
‘’We work closely with the Lighthouse Charity to ensure our teams and subcontractors have easy access to support,” says Tiffanie Woodcraft, Marketing Coordinator and Mental Health First Aider at Lovell. “Supporting the construction industry is about more than hitting deadlines; it’s about taking collective responsibility for the people behind the projects. This partnership represents our commitment to changing the narrative, moving away from the ‘man up’ culture and providing a safety net that covers emotional, physical, and financial wellbeing. We want to foster a true culture of care on every site.’’
So far, the Curry & Chat Initiative has raised £800 for the Lighthouse Charity, with more coming in all the time. We would like to offer a sincere thank you and congratulations to the team for not only raising funds, but for taking real, tangible action to improve wellbeing on-site.
Be it Curry & Chats, Talks & Tacos or Friday fry-ups, we’d love to see more initiatives like this. Why not take a little inspiration and start your own? We’d love to hear about it! Please contact lighthouseday@lighthousecharity.org.
