5 Reasons to Join The Lighthouse Club

Posted by Richard Poulter on Monday, October 5, 2015

The Lighthouse Club, for those unaware, is a construction industry networking organisation with offices across UK, the Middle East and Australasia, which also and very importantly, raises funds for those less fortunate within the construction community who fall victim to accident or illness.

 

1. Enjoy Being Part of a Close Knit Community

Eddie Ward and a close knit group of like-minded construction industry friends (with perhaps a Quantity Surveyor and a Planning Engineer amongst them) shared a light-hearted evening back in 1956, attending a public works exhibition in Tyneside in the north of England. They enjoyed the camaraderie so much that they pledged there and then to establish a club “for the furtherance of good fellowship among people in the construction industry”. This merry band of construction “warriors” were at the time being illuminated by the Lighthouse across the shores of Whitley Bay and so the club was aptly named!

2. There’s a Club Near You

Offices have sprouted across the UK over the years and the Lighthouse ship has also sailed across the waters with offices firmly embedded in the Middle East including Dubai, Qatar and Abu Dhabi and in the Far East including Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Cambodia as well as Australia. This is obviously good news for Quantity Surveyors, Planning Engineers and Project Managers seeking to get involved with a club, as a committee member / organiser or just an ordinary member, either in the UK or in one of the overseas construction hot spots.

Please check the following link for a Lighthouse Club near you…http://www.lighthouseclub.org/find-your-local-club.html

3. Funds are Raised to Support Those in Need

Typically, a Benevolent Fund is introduced as a registered charity alongside each of the Lighthouse Clubs. Whether you’re a corporate member looking to deliver on your CSR program or an individual member keen to make a difference, joining the Lighthouse Club and regularly attending events will most certainly help to raise money to support those in need whether a victim of a construction related accident or an illness whilst employed within the industry.

So far over £12 Million has been distributed to those construction industry folk in need within the UK and approximately HK$2 Million each year is distributed to those less fortunate within the HK construction industry. It won’t take a Commercial Manager in West London or a Quantity Surveyor in Hong Kong to calculate the magnitude of these achievements!    

Commercial Manager in West London

QS Claims Work in Hong Kong

4. Network and Have Some Fun

Each club organises a host of exciting events throughout the year ranging from monthly social gatherings and golf days to BBQ’s and Annual Balls. You’ll see some of the biggest corporates within the construction industry regularly attend these events. Whether you are young or not so young, what an excellent place to network, share best practice, swap war stories and have some fun!

An events calendar is normally available on the relevant website, having been painstakingly crafted by no doubt the most experienced of Planning Engineers!  

Delay Planner in Hong Kong

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5. Secure Your Next Career Move

I was chatting with a Planning Engineer friend of mine at the Lighthouse gathering in Hong Kong last week and I commented on how he seemed to have landed on his feet with his latest commission with a global retail giant. He agreed and quickly followed up that the chain of events which led to his recruitment started at the Lighthouse Club gathering.

 

I’m only too aware that work commitments and life commitments normally fill our day but if you haven’t done so already, why don’t you look up a Lighthouse Club near to you and go along to see what the fuss is all about. It’s a fabulous cause and you never know where it might take you?

Please take a look at the exciting jobs we have available.

 

Richard Poulter
Director – Hong Kong & Middle East
Maxim Recruitment