Causeway Technologies has donated £200,000 for a new mental health facility in Liverpool.
The People’s Place is being developed by Everton in the Community (EitC) and will provide a focal point for its activities around suicide prevention and positive mental health.
The purpose-built centre will significantly increase mental health provision in the city. It will be operated by EitC, working with the NHS and other partner charities, and staffed by a range of specialists. This will include General Practitioners (GPs), mental health nurses, and experts in specific areas such as PTSD and bereavement.
As well as the healthcare facilities, the building will also include spaces to deliver learning, community events, sport and other physical activities.
Everton in the Community Chief Executive Officer Richard Kenyon added: “We have been providing mental health programmes and support across Merseyside for more than 13 years, helping people with a range of diagnosed mental illnesses and promoting the risks of poor mental health to the public. There is a real need for our services to expand, not least due to the impact of the coronavirus, and this new facility will provide an opportunity for us to do that and support more people in more ways. We also believe that once up and running it will be a model that others can follow.
Causeway selected the charity because of its track record in tackling mental health, which is particularly high within the construction sector that Causeway serves.
Phil Brown, Chief Executive and Chairman of Causeway, said: “Construction is an industry that struggles more than most with mental health issues. The stereotype is that it has a male dominated workforce that does not ask for help when it comes to mental wellbeing.
“Research shows that male site workers are three times more likely to commit suicide than the average male in the UK. In fact, suicide kills more construction workers than accidents. With the well documented effects of Covid-19 this year, we feel that there are likely to be even more problems, with people isolated both at work and at home.
“We hope that our support of EitC can help us to create conversations with our workforce and our customers and find new ways to address this important issue.”
Phil also has a personal link to the charity. Born in Liverpool, he is an Everton season ticket holder and Executive Producer of Howard’s Way, a documentary celebrating Everton’s highly successful run in the 1980s under Howard Kendall. Phil is donating all proceeds from the documentary to EitC, which adds a further six figure sum to the campaign to build The People’s Place.
As well as the donation, Causeway has selected EitC as its charity for 2021. As part of the partnership, former Blues and England midfielder Trevor Steven has been appointed as Causeway’s mental health ambassador. He will work on a construction-specific campaign for Causeway staff and customers.
“I am delighted to be working as Causeway's Mental Health Ambassador as part of its partnership with EitC, particularly with Causeway's customers part of the construction industry where mental health rates are so high. Hopefully, my background means that we can use the powerful voice of football to start new conversations" said Trevor Steven.
"We want to remove the stigma of this topic and help sufferers realise that they are not alone and encourage them to openly discuss and seek help for their overall mental wellbeing. It is an honour and a privilege to work alongside my old club in support of the amazing work they are doing, both in the local community and in the wider football family and industry."
Phil added: “As a local, I know how important Everton in the Community’s work is and what a difference it makes. We’re really looking forward to working with Trevor and the team to do what we can to support the mental health not only in Liverpool, but in the wider construction industry.”
Causeway is the UKs largest provider of software solutions for construction and infrastructure companies and their supply chains, from design through to build, operation and maintenance.
