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| Donations |
| This page is sponsored by The International Powered Access Federation |
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| Donations to the Club's Benevolent Fund come in all sorts of sizes and from many different sources. Some come as an outright gift, but mostly the money is raised by schemes and wheezes; as a result of fun runs and golf days; raffles and bingo; or just a good day out. That's the Lighthouse Club for you: Having Fun. Helping Others. | ||||
 Dice challenge at the Hamilton Plant Show |
 Fancy dress day at Instarmacs |
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And, very importantly, there are some very substantial donations to the Club which enable the Club to
operate in a professional manner as it serves its members and the industry. For seven years now Moffat Press, publishers of Resale Weekly have made available to the Club, entirely free of charge, the resources needed to prepare, print and mail out the Club's full colour newsletter. For two years Chepstow Plant International have made a substantial contribution to our mailing costs, Skanska have met all the costs of redesigning this web site, and Resale Weekly have put it into effect. |
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| October 2008 |
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| Sibbald’s bigger Belfast Bucks | ||||
 John Kennedy on behalf of SIBBALD Training presents £3,025, raised at the 2008 Royal Ulster Agricultural Society Balmoral Show, to Mervyn Logan, Chairman of our Northern Ireland Branch. (l. to r.) John Kennedy [SIBBALD Manager / Ireland], Willie McCabe [SIBBALD Plant Instructor / Scotland], Mervyn Logan, Branch Chairman. David Sibbald and his teams are the finest kind of supporters any charity could wish for, - long term, consistent and innovative. The presence of Sibbald Training at a plant show means that the Lighthouse Club gets publicity, our Benevolent Fund is guaranteed a substantial donation, and visitors to the show enjoy a lot of fun. Earlier this year Sibbald Ltd. had a presence at their two regular venues, first at Scotplant, (the Hamilton Show as was), then at the Balmoral Show in Belfast. Scotplant earned our Fund over £2,000 (see below), and the fun at the Northern Ireland show brought forth a further £3,025. That figure, £1,000 greater than last year, was a gratifying reward for the effort that Sibbald’s Northern Ireland manager, John Kennedy, and his team put into their Balmoral Show’s fund raising wheezes. For a limited number of young, budding, Plant & Machinery operators, a Yanmar SV08-1 Micro Digger, (kindly loaned by Crumlin Plant Sales, Craigavon), was on hand for them to test their skills under professional supervision. For the not so adventurous many, Sibbald’s tombola was a chance to win Model Machines. Commenting on the three days of fund raising, John Kennedy said – “On behalf of all the staff at Sibbald Training, I take this opportunity to express our sincere thanks to all the Royal Ulster Agricultural Society Members and to the General Public who so generously donated funds while taking part in our Micro Digger Skills Test and Model Machines tombola”. Our sincere thanks to all Sibbald staff for their continuing efforts in support of our Benevolent Fund. |
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| 3 Peaks – 5 Grand! | ||||
 The Three Peaks Presentation at the Ameythyst Hotel (l. to r.) Clive Thornley (MD Brianplant) Dean Chalder, Philippa Thornley, Lisa Beveridge, John Clugston, Simon Beveridge, Neil Carter. Lincolnshire Branch
29 September 2008 A presentation was held at the Amethyst Hotel, East Halton when a cheque for £4,832 was presented by a team of employees from Brianplant (Humberside) Ltd. and NCC Plant Services to the Lincolnshire Branch of The Lighthouse Club (Construction Charity). This splendid sum was contributed by friends and customers who sponsored the team’s grueling 24 hour, Three Peaks Challenge on 24/25 May 2008. The cheque was handed over by Philippa Thornley, on behalf of the seven team members to John W A Clugston DL, Patron of our Lincolnshire Branch. Members of the team are Lincs. Branch members and their contribution will supplement the Branch’s annual donation to our Benevolent Fund. Certificates of Appreciation were handed to each of the team members in recognition of their splendid efforts. A step by step account of their pretty fraught 24 hours is available here. |
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| May 2008 | ||||
| Sibbald Training: Another Contribution | ||||
 Chairman of Trustees with M.D. Dave Sibbald David Sibbald, Managing Director of construction and plant training company Sibbald Limited based in Armadale, West Lothian would like to thank everyone who participated in the competitions they held on their stand at Scotplant 2008 the funds raised from these competitions were all donated to The Lighthouse Club, the Construction Industry charity. Over the two days at the show, Sibbald Ltd raised an amazing £2,100, these funds were the proceeds of 3 competitions: an adult’s competition on a 180o Backhoe Excavator, a child’s competition on a 360o Mini Excavator and also a Tombola. A cheque for this most generous donation was presented to Mark Everett Chairman of our Trustees, by David Sibbald at Sibbald’s new Training Centre in Blackridge, West Lothian. The prizes for al the competitions were kindly donated by Sibbald Limited. These prizes included a 26-inch and 32-inch TV’s and various JCB models. For many years now Sibbald Limited has been a great supporter of the Lighthouse Club. One of the other main venues that Sibbald raise money for our Charity is at the Balmoral Show in Belfast. Last year they raised £2,200 during the 3 days of the show and they are hoping to better this at this year’s show, which was held in May 2008. | ||||
| Punch Taverns Gala Night | ||||
 Here’s a bunch of happy bunnies! The winners! Bridgewater Group Punch Taverns own and operate no less than 8,400 premises - that’s an awful lot of bricks and mortar and it all needs maintaining. As a reward for good service and maintenance beyond the call of duty , Punch invited to the Ricoh Arena 380 people, designers and contractors who keep Punch in good shape. Fun and Fund Raising came in the shape of ‘Reverse Bingo and a charity auction. The proceeds will be with us in due course! | ||||
| February 2008 | ||||
| Speedy Stars Frank Bruno | ||||
 Here's Frank towering over the ladies! Speedy Hire Western took advantage of our South West’s very successful Ladies Night to present to Chairman Mike Philpott a very welcome donation to our Benevolent Fund of £2,050. This was the amount raised at a rather special ‘Frank Bruno Night’ held at the St. Mellion Hotel last November.  Mr Trevor Goodman Regional Director Speedy Hire Western Ltd receives a thank you from Frank Bruno. Arranged by Speedy Western’s Adrian Brady, this splendid evening’s entertainment was for a gathering of their special customers. Frank talked about his experiences in and out of the ring and followed that with a witty question - answer routine; ‘he was’, said Adrian, ‘very good indeed’. A local comedian with an excellent line of patter rounded off an evening of good fun and good fellowship. A perfect Lighthouse Club gathering. |
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Burns Bash boosts our Fund |
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 MRG get shirty with footballer Thierry Henry This year, our old friends and sponsors, the CTC Burns Society, were refugees from the Savoy's massive makeover and were forced to relocate their Burns Night Bash to the somewhat smaller environs of the Sheraton Park Lane Hotel, London. Nonetheless John McMillan found room for our Robert Smith who bribed his way in with a signed Thierry Henry shirt. The CTC Burns Night Supper was, we are told, its usual semi riot during which the shirt, which was auctioned by fellow guest and star rugby commentator Ian Robertson, raised the grand sum of £800. This splendid figure made our Robert's after-dark foray into Arsenal's Emirates Stadium well worth while! However, Robert denies that he had to emulate Bill Sykes, claiming that the shirt was donated by the Management Recruitment Group of which he is now Chairman. Whatever! Our thanks to Robert, to MRG, and to the CTC Burns Society for yet another annual contribution to our Fund. (Old friends can now reach Robert via www.mrgpeople.co.uk |
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Acheson and Glover’s Valentine’s Cheque. |
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 Branch Treasurer Laurence Bonner was close to hand as Acheson and Glover’s Pete Stevens presented Chairman Jimmy Cooke with a donation of £2,750 Pete Stevens of Acheson-Glover, with his wife Jo, were Guests of Honour at Midlands’ Valentine’s Dinner Dance. Acheson-Glover are long time supporters of our Club/Fund. and Pete’s cheque, for £2,750, was not only their annual corporate sponsorship but a donation to Midlands Branch funds. That donation brought the proceeds from an evening of good food, swinging music, and dancing until the early hours, to not far short of £6,000. Midlands Chairman Jimmy Cooke, accepting the cheque on behalf of the Branch and our Fund, thanked Pete for Acheson and Glover’s ongoing generous support. |
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January 2008 |
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Hays ‘Suits on Sites’ gives us acres of publicity plus £5,580 |
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 This logo, along with our Lighthouse, has had widespread coverage. Simple wheezes are the best and the Hays Trades & Labour ‘Suits on Site’ scheme, which has been an annual event for a few years now, was, for us, a win; win; win, wheeze! The idea is that clients are persuaded by Hays local offices to give a opportunity for their recruitment consultants to work for a day on site. For that day’s work, the client pays the equivalent of a day’s wages, possibly even a bit more, to our fund. That’s win No.1. The event also generates publicity for our Club and Fund in the local press. That’s win No.2. Putting the scheme into practise has meant that over the past couple of months Hays Trades & Labour consultants, from Dundee in the North to Falmouth in the South and points East and West, have been pulling on hard hats and toetectors and getting out to graft on sites. And, another win, they’ve revelled in it!  Patrick Ward, Works Manager, of Kier Build; Tom Herriots of Hays Construction & Property; Graeme Beaven, Project Engineer, of Kier Build; and Anthony Quinn of Hays Construction & Property Hays Trades & Labour has compiled an impressive summary of results. In all, fifty three of their consultants spent time on a wide variety of sites. Forty three different clients were involved. Many of those clients were the big companies which support us on an ongoing basis, but more importantly, over half were smaller outfits for whom this was probably their first introduction to The Lighthouse Club. News coverage in local papers followed and was entirely complimentary, plus there was a lot of it. In November and December there were thirty three local papers which printed stories, all carried the words: the Lighthouse Club, the construction industry charity and some journals devoted a lot of space to the event. Add up the circulations of the papers involved and the total comes to well over a million copies; by any standards that represents an awful lot of readers and a valuable boost for our Club and Fund. David Trotman, Director of Hays Trades & Labour, is very pleased with the result. And so are we! |
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Pirtek Racer’s Flash Jackets raise over £1,000 for our Fund |
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 Here are Mike and Andy wearing the fabulous jackets that raised over £1,000 for our Fund As part of their active participation in auto–sport, Pirtek UK Ltd. sponsor the brothers Jordan, Mike and Andrew, who drive for Team Eurotech in the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship (BTCC). Throughout the 2007 season’s series of race meetings Pirtek entertained parties of VIP guests to cheer on Mike and Andrew. As part of the fun the guests joined in raffles to win one of Team Eurotech’s exclusive jackets, (seen above), their contributions in aid of our Lighthouse Club Benevolent Fund, raised over one thousand pounds.  Sales Director Paul Dunlop and Tim Rodway, our Hon. Treasurer, with £1,022 Pirtek’s generous contribution to our Benevolent Fund was presented to Tim Rodway, our Honorary Treasurer, by Paul Dunlop, Pirtek’s Sales Director, at our Central Branch Christmas Luncheon held at Drayton Park Golf Club, Oxfordshire. Paul said: “We are delighted to continue our support of the Lighthouse Club and there will be more opportunities to raise money for your Fund during next season’s BTCC”. For more information on Pirtek and Mike and Andrew Jordan see www.pirtek-europe.com |
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December 2007 |
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Hewden’s balloons lift Fund |
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 And a big prize for the guy in the colourful shirt! Hewden, the U.K.’s largest plant hirer, rounded off their end of year sales conference, held in Warwick’s Hilton Hotel on December 11th, with a bit of fun and fund raising for our Benevolent Fund. A Grand Balloon Draw, with over £600 worth of prizes, raised a lot of laughs and shrieks of pleasant surprise. At the off there were more than 140 members of staff brandishing in one hand their balloons containing tickets, in the other a pin. Came the word ‘burst’ and the volley of pops was followed by a scrabbling, laughing, melee as draw tickets were recovered and compared with the winners list. At the conclusion of the draw, which raised £637, Mike Penn, Sales and Marketing Director at Hewden praised our efforts, saying: “The Lighthouse Club is such a worthy charity. Whilst as an industry we try to ensure construction is as safe as possible, we need to be realistic and appreciate that accidents happen. What the Lighthouse Club has successfully done for 50 years is ease the financial burden so often associated with such tragedies”. |
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November 2007 |
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REMA Conference Swells our Fund |
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 Our Laurence Bonner with John Lloyd, REMA’s secretary, and their Chairman Mike Mason. REMA – The Retroreflective Equipment Manufacturers Association, who recently held their Annual Conference at Stratford upon Avon, chose our Fund as the beneficiaries of some fun fund raising. Midland’s Chairman Jimmy Cook and Branch Secretary Laurence Bonner were invited along on what turned out to be a brilliant day for a presentation picture. Our thanks to REMA for a cheque which certainly reflects their generosity. |
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October 2007 |
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Finning Group UK supports our Fund |
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 Finning UK & Hewden Communications Team with after dinner speaker Kyran Bracken MBE, part of the 2003 England Rugby Union World Cup squad and star of ITV’s Dancing on Ice. At the annual Finning Group UK ‘One Team – Great People’ management conference held at the Ricoh arena Coventry Monday October 1st, a grand balloon draw raised £600 for the construction charity the Lighthouse Club. Finning Group UK invited its management teams from Finning UK; Hewden; Diperk; Finnpave and MAK to the event where the focus was on common unifying themes including Great Teams and Health & Safety aimed at building an even stronger UK business for Customers and Employees. Finning Group UK Managing Director Andy Fraser commented: “The event was a great success and I am both pleased and proud of the team’s response on the evening in raising £600 to support the Lighthouse Club.” |
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August 2007 |
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Skanska continues with Web sponsorship |
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As reported on our NewsFlash page the Construction Charity Fives day was an outstanding success with 57 teams competing. Of those 57, 12 teams carried the Skanska Logo and they had a fair measure of success – one team was runner-up in the final and another won the Plate Competion. Thus the day was a good opportunity for Skanska to present the Club with a cheque for £5,000, £4,000 of which will help keep this web site running for the next two years with the balance to our Benevolent Fund.  Pictured with Skanska’s presentation cheque is Tim Cook, M.D. of Hays Construction and Property, sponsors of our three Spring Events. Our sincere thanks to Skanska and all involved in a wonderful day. |
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SED’s Organisers donate to our Fund |
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The annual SED Plant Show is a big event for the Club and our East Midlands Branch who man our hospitality cabin and our Classic Plant Stand. All the facilities and support that we enjoy is freely given by the Shows organising team led by Mark Bresnahan. But that’s not all. Every year SED uses their show to make a donation to our Fund, this year a generous £2,000. That donation means that, in addition to very valuable publicity, this year SED benefited our Fund by over £8,000. Our grateful thanks to Mark and his team . |
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Alfred McAlpine’s £2,200 |
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 (l. to r.) Keith Titman (Project Director), Alun Jones (Public Liaison Officer) Tony Green and South West’s Mike Philpott. Tony Green visited Cornwall on July 16 as a guest of Alfred McAlpine on their site on the A30 near Bodmin. Anyone using that road will have experienced the traffic queues caused by ‘The Iron Bridge’, but not any more. Alfred McAlpine have brought the Bodmin to Indian Queens section of the A30 up to trunk road standard. Before the official opening of the new length of road they christened it with a walk, a cycle ride and run along its length, all of them sponsored in aid of our Fund. Following these efforts our Benevolent Fund benefited by £2,200. A presentation cheque was handed over to Tony who was there with Mike Philpott, (recently appointed Vice Chairman of our South West Branch) at a ceremony in front of the infamous bottleneck bridge. |
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Volvo’s ‘Dinner Money’ |
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 The new Volvo L350F Wheeled Loader Volvo, who always have a big presence at the Hillhead Show, this year dreamt up a new fund raising wheeze to maintain their tradition of raising money for our Benevolent Fund. At the past two or three shows Volvo Construction Equipment have ‘sold’ on our behalf their famous Volvo waste paper bins. These were a much prized item for many show goers. This year Volvo’s givaway was a ‘Launch Box’ to highlight the first appearance of the new Volvo flagship wheeled loader – the L350F.  Three of Volvo’s Launch Box team Over 600 lunch/launch boxes were distributed, each for a modest donation to our charity, with the fund raising event being overseen by Elaine Kerry, Pat Rowlandson, Dee Jaggard and Hilary Carberry. In all, just over £1250 was collected for the Lighthouse Club Benevolent Fund. |
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Highways Agency Donation |
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 (l. to r.) Highways Agency Communication Manager Sarah Rudy with our Dennis Tidmarsh and Jerry England, the Agency’s Interim Major Projects Director. Pancake Day Races; Guess the Weight of a Cone and a raffle at the Major Projects Annual Conference all contributed to the recent donation of £3,893 we received from the Highways Agency, Bedford. In their press release, Jerry England, Interim Major Projects Director, stressed the importance of the Construction Industry to the Highways Agency and explained what we; the Lighthouse Club; do to help in cases of accident or illness. Jerry drew attention to a grim statistic – in the years 2005 and 2006 seven road workers were killed on site and he asked that drivers respect their safety. East Midlands Welfare Officer Dennis Tidmarsh, who was in Bedford to receive the cheque, thanked the Highways Agency staff for their contribution to our Fund, which in the first six months of this year distributed £280,000 to aid construction workers and their families who had been a victim of accident or illness. |
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July 2007 |
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Sibbald Training donate £2,200 at Belfast Show |
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 Left to Right: Jenny McNiell, Trade Stand Coordinator Kings Hall, Clifford Spence, Lighthouse Club NI Branch Chairman, Heather McCord, Training Administrator Sibbald Limited. The Balmoral Show, held in Belfast from 16 to 18 May 2007 was an event for everyone. This year 70,000 visitors braved uncertain weather to see everything from show jumping to specialist cheeses, this show was without doubt Northern Ireland’s premier Agricultural & Plant event. Among the exhibitors in the 33 acres of the RUAS Show Grounds were old friends of our Club, Sibbald Training, who, at the end of their three days of demonstrations, presented our Northern Ireland Chairman Clifford Spence, with a donation of £2,200. The main attraction at the Sibbald stand was the opportunity for young budding Plant & Machinery operators to test their skills on a Yanmar SV08-1 Micro Digger, (kindly loaned by Crumlin Plant Sales Craigavon). And for those that just wanted a bit of fun there was tombola to win a Model Machine. Making the cheque presentation, Heather McCord, the Training Administrator for Sibbald. congratulated the Members of The Royal Ulster Agricultural Society on their organisation of a splendid show and thanked the many visitors who supported Sibbald’s fund raising at their very popular stand. The enthusiasm of those taking part is reflected in the size of their cheque, for which many thanks to Sibbald Training and to Jason Lear who organised their stand. |
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CMF Sports Day contributes over £7,000 to our Fund |
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 Stephen Hankinson, Chief Executive of Roy Hankinson Ltd., on the steps of Liverpool’s St. Georges Hall. Stephen is holding the awards won for the outstanding quality achieved during the renovation works. For the third year our Benevolent Fund enjoyed a very handsome donation thanks to the efforts of Stephen Hankinson and Samantha Davies of Roy Hankinson Ltd. who, with their team, organise the Annual CMF day out. CMF (Construction Management Framework Community) is made up of the companies maintaining the Highways Agency's Areas 9 and10, the network between Birmingham and Liverpool. Companies of all disciplines are involved so there were well over a hundred 'sportsmen' (and sportswomen) gathered at Patshull Park in Shropshire for a day of fun and games. Golf (where again Tarmac fielded the winning team), Fishing, (the winners were the fish!), Karting, and Quad Biking were among the events. After dinner, Jimmy Cook, Chairman of our Midlands Branch presented the vast range-of competition prizes, and then accepted the CMF contribution to our Benevolent Fund.  Stephen Hankinson and Jimmy Cook The presentation cheque shows a figure of £6,000, but in fact the ‘real’ cheque, sent to our Fund Administrator Peter Burns, was for over £7,000. A splendid result, and one very much appreciated by our Trustees. Said our Jimmy Cook “This was a wonderful evening for me and I was very pleased to be part of such a generous crowd of construction people.” This was the third Annual Contribution to our Benevolent Fund. The CMF’s Sports Day total contribution now stands at £20,000. Pdf for more story and pics |
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June 2007 |
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Carillion’s Bristol Riders Raise £1,500 |
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 Carillion’s five riders take a well earned break This year’s Biggest Bike Ride, a Bristol event that aims to promote cycling as a more environmentally friendly and healthier alternative to travelling by car, saw a team of five from Carillion pedalling their way to a donation of £1,500 to our Benevolent Fund. Fortunately the great phlanax of riders is not limited to one route, they have a choice of five alternative ways through Bristol and North Somerset, our team went for the one that avoided the steepest hills! This is a fun ride, with the accent on fun, so midway between the start at Millenium Square and the finish at Greville Smyth Park, our hard riding quintet halted for rest, refreshment and a photo opportunity at a welcoming pub. Well done! And thanks for thinking of our fund as a destination for that very welcom sponsorship cash. |
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Atkins’ ‘Near Miss’ scheme benefits our Fund |
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| Anyone who has worked on a construction site will, at some time or other, have experienced a ‘bloody hell’ moment; an adrenaline raising occasion when, but for luck or the Grace of God, they would have suffered the effects of gravity or maybe 11,000 volts! Atkins have recognised that these ‘near misses’ should not be shrugged off. Their conclusion is that today’s near miss could well be tomorrow’s accident statistic. So they’re doing something about them and our Fund is the beneficiary. These amusing posters are up on all their notice boards but they carry a serious message and our Fund has received a cheque for £1,000 which shows that the message is being taken seriously. As the poster says; our Fund could ultimately benefit to the tune of £20,000. Your editor feels that that is rather too many close calls for comfort! Hopefully the scheme will result in steadily diminishing returns as a result of safer and yet safer sites. Our thanks to Atkins and to Mr. Guy Welbourn at Atkins Highways and Transportation in Brixworth who forwarded this first donation. |
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March 2007 |
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CECA (Scotland) celebrate their 10th Anniversary with £4,000for our Fund |
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 (l to r) Mark Everett, prize winner Murdo McGhie, John Hays, Charlie Frize, Chairman of CECA (Scotland) and David Welsh Glasgow’s Thistle Hotel hosted the 10th Anniversary celebrations of the Scotland Branch of the Civil Engineering Contractors Association, and a jolly good night it was. CECA Scotland have come a long way in a short time. The twenty six founder members have seen the organisation expand to nearly one hundred, a figure which includes just about every civil engineering company of note in the area. Chairman Charlie Frize of Luddon Construction paid tribute to those who had the foresight and determination to get CECA Scotland up and running and to support the Scottish Parliament. ‘That body’ said Charlie, ‘now makes most of the decisions affecting Civils work in Scotland and is delivering tangible results, increasing and securing expenditure on Scotland’s infrastructure’. Fergus Ewing MSP, from the cross party group for construction, acknowledged the work and dedication of CECA (Scotland) and pledged his commitment to further the aims of the Civils industry in Edinburgh’s parliament and proposed the toast ‘ CECA Scotland’. Members and their guests gave splendid support to the raffle in aid of our Benevolent Fund. Over £4,000 was raised and presented to our Mark Everett, Chairman of Fund Trustees. Among many Club members present were David Welsh, Chairman of our Scotland West Branch and John Hays Chairman of Scotland North. Said Mark Everett ‘this was an excellent night for Scottish Civil Engineering and for our Benevolent Fund. |
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January 2007 |
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Mansell ‘do’ at Lords Cricket Ground a big hit for Benevolent Fund. |
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 Keith Taylor,(l), was a guest at London’s Christmas Lunch Contractors Mansell organised a splendid ‘Black Tie’ evening at Lords on November 1st. which was supported by over 420 construction professionals, contractors and supply chain partners. The event marked the successful completion of their Jobcentre Plus Roll Out Contract, a job which involved the refurbishment and re-branding of Government Jobcentres over the last three to four years. The Roll Out has involved works in over 750 Jobcentres nationwide with up to 14 contractors and construction costs nearing £1bn. The refurbishment works were managed and co-ordinated by a "Core Team" seconded to the Department for Work and Pensions from Lendlease. The event was a celebration of the success of the programme as it near it's completion and Mansell’s Keith Taylor was charged with organising the charity raffle. Keith chose the Lighthouse Club, recognising us as the most relevant construction charity and to support our cause he managed to obtain a number of superb prizes from a few of the main contractors, supply chain partners and consultants. Keith’s efforts earned a splendid result, he raised over £5,000 on the night with the raffle and then Lendlease donated a further £2,500 from the surplus which came from the sale of the tables. This was a night out in the true spirit of the Lighthouse Club: Construction friends and colleagues getting together to celebrate a successful job well done and in the process raising £7,756 for our Benevolent Fund. |
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John Sisk’s Penalties score for our Fund |
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Mark Everett, Chairman of our Trustees, received two Christmas cheques totaling £2,700 from Leigh Reading, Senior Q. S. at John Sisk & Co. Ltd. ‘And’, says Mark, ‘there is more to come’!! Mark goes on to explain that: This was raised by way of a penalty imposed on their own workforce, sub contractors and suppliers who were spotted breaching health and safety site rules on two John Sisk sites. Offenders were all fined £50.00 for each breach of safety!! But this coin has two sides. As an added incentive to safe working, those subcontractors and suppliers with a "clean bill of health" during the works period earned for our Fund a £50 donation from John Sisk Ltd themselves. So far it looks as if ‘transgressions’ and ‘rewards’ are more or less equal, but with ‘safety’ now a currency on John Sisk’s sites our Fund will not be the only beneficiary as their ‘Safety Culture’ takes hold. |
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Thanks from Torith Ltd |
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A letter with a cheque for £500 came from Rosyln Munro writing on behalf of the
Directors of Torith Ltd. Civil Engineering near Dundee. Rosyln explained that their donation was a mark of appreciation "for all the help the Benevolent Fund has given to a couple of their Employees during the past couple of years"!
It was, said Mark Everett, a nice gesture.
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Propinex join our sponsors list. |
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Our Fund received a promised cheque for £1000.00 from Dr. Ken Smith, Managing Director of Propex Concrete Systems Ltd, Propexinc supply fibre reinforced concrete solutions throughout the UK and Europe and they decided that this year, rather than giving away gifts to Clients that they would donate £1000.00 to Charity. By a unanimous decision, their Senior Management decided to join the list of sponsors to The Lighthouse Club Benevolent Fund. |
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October 2006 |
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Finning’s Chief wins Brendon Shoot-out |
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 Chris Hendy takes up the tale: “When we tested the gun we found that scoring was extremely difficult, however due to limited time we could not find a solution to make the game easier. Many customers and Hewden personnel were hooked on the game, and yes some did score – At about 4.00pm on the day the Finning Board members, (Finning are Hewden’s parent company) took a tour of the exhibition. The group paused at our stand and one of the members wanted a go. He took aim with one shot and to everyone’s amazement scored 140! By far thee highest score of the day. Later we found out that this lucky winner was Mr. Conrad Pinette – the Chairman of Finnings. Hence he wanted to donate the winnings to the deserving Lighthouse Club. Congratulations and thanks to Mr. Conrad Pinette for the perfect example of: ‘Having fun – Helping people. |
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August 2006 |
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A-Plant’s World Cup Parties net £1,500 for our Fund |
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 David Griffin, Notts Membership Secretary, with A-Plant’s Stuart Stimpson manager of the A-Plant Daleside Road Depot. The England v Trinidad & Tobago match was celebrated in Mansfield at ‘The Red Pub’. There A-Plant managers Richard Hawksley, Stuart Stimpson and Martin Cowley brought in 150 of their customers and guests. JCB Greenshieldsand other suppliers were involved with sponsoring the evening and the prizes. One notable event was a contribution of £500 from site engineer Neil Kybird which found its way to our fund. Apparently Neil was very impressed with our aims and achievements, and so - many thanks Neil! The following week Danny Shaw, A-Plant’s manager from Salford came down to Hinkley Football Stadium to organise the party which accompanied England’s 1 all draw with Sweden. There was a much bigger crowd this time - 350 strong - who thoroughly enjoyed the free bar and food. A-Plant’s Martin Cowley and Richard Hawksley were also there, bringing along the landlord from the Red Pub as a ‘thank you’. Again Greenshields JCB, represented by key accounts manage Martin Moody, were supporting the event and as before other suppliers donated prizes and contributions. A-Plant’s ‘Exotic Dancers’ rounded off the entertainment, they were probably more memorable than the display on the football field! On both evenings A-Plant’s lads and lasses put a lot of work into drumming up contributions to our fund, and it’s thanks to them, their managers, Greenshield JCB and the other sponsors that our Dave Griffin was presented with a cheque for £1,500. |
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Another big donation from Speedy Hire |
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 On the left Lighthouse Club Chairman John Anderson receiving the latest example of Speedy’s generosity from David Graham, Group Sales and Marketing Director. Now Speedy have a scheme which promotes awareness on sites of the new limitations on the use of hand held tools. Prolonged use of hand held tools causes ‘white finger’, an awful and permanent injury; the new ‘hand arm vibration’ rules aim to eliminate this scourge. Speedy charge a small fee for the training in HAV, but when there are a lot of small fees they soon add up to the £14,712 which was the value of the donation made to our Fund by Speedy at our 50th anniversary ball. |
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July 2006 |
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Steeplejacks whip-round raises £1078 |
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 Nottingham’s Dave Griffin looks happy as June Turney of Central High Rise gives our Fund a lift. It has been the custom at these events for the President (this year Robert Bird of Delta Steeplejacks) and the event organiser to exchange gifts. This time the gifts were given a miss in favour of our Fund, and furthermore the hat went round the assembled company. When the hat came back there was over £1,000 in donations, which sum was brought back by June Turney of Central High Rise, Nottingham’s steeplejacks. Nottingham committee member Dave Griffin is a friend and was happy to take the cash which is now safe and sound with branch treasurer Pete Greaves. Our thanks to June and to President Robert Bird and to all the members of ATLAS who chipped in with their generous contributions. |
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June 2006 |
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May’s donations top £30,000 |
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A flurry of cheques in the month of May, from all sides of our industry, gave a boost to our Benevolent Fund and paid for the Club’s newly printed brochures and leaflets.
Our series of springtime soccer, five-a-side, and Rugby 7s matches, organised and sponsored by leading recruitment agency Hays Construction and Property together with Estates Gazette, Contract Journal and Building Magazine; raised £20,000. Club past Chairman Robert Smith (to the left of the cheque), with Skanska’s Charity 5s squad. Skanska, (stalwart supporters of our Club and Fund), used the occasion of our Charity Fives at Wimbledon Goals Centre, to present a donation of £5,000 to our Fund. SED, the U.K’s leading plant and equipment show, was the venue for three presentations. From Reed Business Publishing’s show organiser Mark Bresnahan came a cheque for £2,000 (plus the site for our stand and unlimited help).  Our Charlie Jeffrey and HAE’s M.D. Kevin Minton with two beautifully restored machines. Our stand at SED, with its range of ‘classic plant’, was the backdrop for Kevin Minton, Managing Director of Hire Association Europe, to present us with a cheque for £2,000. The money came from HAE’s charity fund raising Jubilee Fund. Throughout the year fundraising initiatives by HAE members swell their Jubilee Funds, the money raised is set aside to contribute to the most appropriate causes. Kevin explained that with the hire industry’s obvious close links to the building and construction industry, the Lighthouse Club Benevolent Fund was seen as a worthy cause.  Another presentation to Charlie Jeffrey, this one from Gap Group’s joint M.D. Douglas Anderson. The GAP Group, a leading independent Plant and tool hire company, had their own stand at SED where a giant sized version of their ‘HAV’ (hand arm vibration), guide held pride of place. Proceeds from the sale of this very handy pocket guide come to the Club, and their donation of £1,000 financed the publication of our new “practical Guide to the Lighthouse Club Benevolent Fund’ The donation was made by Douglas Anderson, joint M.D. of Gap Group, to our SED representative Charlie Jeffrey. IPAF, The International Powered Access Federation, also had a stand at SED, and their chief executive Tim Whiteman agreed to finance the publishing of the Club’s new brochure. IPAF’s cheque was also for £1,000. Add to all these contributions the two from CMF, (see below), and May was a great month for our Club and Fund. |
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CMF Charity Sporting Day A Great Success |
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 A very happy crowd at the end of a great day. If the name Roy Hankinson Group rings a bell it’s because earliy last month, at a gala dinner held at the London Hilton, they emerged as the top company among a field of very high quality finalists who were competing for Construction New’s ‘Specialist Contractor of the Year’ award. Our Benevolent Fund doesn’t make awards, but we can express our grateful thanks, and these are certainly well earned by C.N.’s ‘top team’, who, for the second year, organised a ‘fun day’ for our benefit. Last year it was held at Hawkstone Park, and our Sir William Francis was guest of honour; this time Patshull Park in Shropshire was venue for the second CMF Charity Sporting Day: The event was organised and co-ordinated by Roy Hankinson's Group Chief Executive, Stephen Hankinson and his team, on behalf of the Construction Management Framework Community for Areas 9 and 10 of the Highways Agency. The community comprises all those companies involved in maintaining the Agency's network of major roads and motorways between Birmingham and Liverpool, and there were well over a hundred 'sportsmen' (and sportswomen) involved in a day in which they enjoyed Golf, Laser Clay Pigeon Shooting, Pistol Shooting, Fishing and a racing on a 20ft Scalextric track. Somehow, in a fortnight of unremitting gloom and rain, Stephen managed to arrange that the CMF day was fine and sunny, so the golfers, shooters, and fishers had the benefit of a great day out although it has to be said that the fish, who were leaping out of the water in great numbers, were very reluctant to be caught! However, the golf course, where Tarmac fielded the winning team, was in splendid condition.  Stephen Hankinson (l) with Tarmac’s winning golfers Dinner was marked by a 'bonus' bottle of wine on every table, courtesy of a magnificent, (‘Lucky? I played for it!), hole in one by Peter Davenport of Atkins. After dinner Don Baldry, former Chairman and member of the Club's National -Council-presented the vast range-of competition prizes, and then accepted the CMF contributions to our Benevolent Fund. Two cheques were presented: the first came from Roy Hankinson Ltd. Contracts Manager Keith Dowling whose efforts in the Liverpool half marathon raised £1,250. The second cheque, this one for a very generous £5,000, was presented by Stephen Hankinson on behalf of all members of the CMF Community.  Stephen Hankinson presents ‘The Cheque of the Day’  Don Baldry wiith Half Marathon runner Keith Dowling. Don thanked Stephen, his team, and all present for their generosity, explained that last year we distributed well over half a million pounds, and assured the company that their donations were a valuable addition to our very active Fund. A rather more accomplished speaker rounded off the evening. Norman Prince, who spent 24 years as a member of the Houghton Weavers; even longer as an avid supporter of Bolton Wanderers; and is now a regular on BBC radio and the after dinner circuit gave a very funny discourse on the subject of 'communication'. That one word encompassed nearly an hour of humour and anecdote and was a fitting end to the CMF Community annual sports day. |
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April 2006 |
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Acheson & Glover’s ‘concrete’ gesture: a cheque for £2,000 |
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 Mark Everett with Acheson & Golver’s Mike Doolan and their £2,000 contribution Earlier in the year our South Wales branch invited Benevolent Fund Chairman Mark Everett along to their Annual Dinner in Cardiff. Mark enjoyed a very good day! First there was the game at the Millennium Stadium where the score line gave Mark a great deal of pleasure. In the evening he collected £2,000 from corporate sponsor Acheson and Glover’s Mike Doolan. Mark and Mike were guests of Honour at the very successful branch dinner. Acheson and Glover are a Dublin based concrete products company with a very strong manufacturing presence in South Wales. They have been supporters of the Club for a number of years. |
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The ‘Callender Ball’ |
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 Mairi Buchanan, Mark with a cheque for £1,500, and Julia Forster Mark Everett didn’t have far to travel when he attended the ‘Callender Ball’, an annual event hosted by The Dreadnought Hotel in Callendar, Trossachs Central Scotland. This is the area’s charity event of the year, held for the benefit of two nominated charities. This year our Benevolent Fund was nominated, along with a local charity, Heart to Heart. A great night was had by all, not least our local boy, Fund Chairman Mark Everett, who dressed up for the occasion! His reward was a cheque for £1,500. Sincere thanks are due to organisers Mairi Buchanan and Julia Forster who for the past three years have ensured the success of this very popular event . |
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February 2006 |
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Construction Trade Contractors Burns Night This
year's CTC Burns Society's celebration of 'The Immortal Bard' saw another
traditional Scottish Night at London's Savoy Hotel. And another generous
contribution to our Benevolent Fund. |
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 (l. to r.) Keith Clarke's wife Sue and Sir William Francis; with the cheque are Keith Clarke and John MacMillan with Robert Smith behind, and current Club Chairman John Anderson with his wife Tucker. This annual gathering in the opulent surroundings of London's Savoy Hotel is a truly wonderful night out, and our Club's past and present luminaries attended in strength. Among the 450 strong crowd were Past Presidents Sir William Francis and Keith Clarke; Past Chairman Robert Smith and Current Chairman John Anderson, they were there to receive a cheque for £1,200 from the society's founder John MacMillan. However, they had to 'sing for their supper'! John Anderson delivered "The Immortal Memory"; The "Word o' Thanks" was given by Robert Smith, and Keith Clarke presided over the auction. The revellers paid tribute to the poetry and music of Robert Burns, enjoyed the pagentry of the Coldstream Guards, and an accomplished display of traditional Scottish Dancing to the music of the London Scottish Pipes and Drums.  Traditional dancing always has a place on the Burns Night programme. Following on the auction the company danced away the evening 'till the wee sma' hours to the music of the Bill Cuthbert All Stars. As founder John MacMillan says: 'A night not to be missed on the London Calendar". |
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CPI's Jason Amson-Orth Hits the road the hard way! |
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 Jason Amson-Orth at the Land's End Start. After six months thought and six months planning, solo cyclist Jason Amson - Orth arrived last July at Lands End for the start of his epic, one man, unsupported, sponsored ride to John O' Groats. Target time was a week, about 150 miles each day, and Jason met his self imposed time limit with a little to spare. In the months between finishing at John O' Groats and Scotland East's Christmas Lunch Jason was able to call in his sponsors markers. All told they made £5,000, a handy enough sum for Jason to present to Chairman Drummond Welsh at Scotland East's sell out gathering at Edinburgh's Sheraton Grand. |
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January 2006 |
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The Valderrama Annual
Once again a group of dedicated golfers set out for sunny Spain at the beginning of December. And this
year it was sunny , in contrast to last years downpour!The team of 21 followed their established routine, staying at Los Monteros Hotel in Marbella and enjoying an excellent Gala Dinner at Ristorante Villa Tibiero on the Golden Mile, Marbella. Play is at the Valderrama Club de Golf in Sotogrande, (which hosts the Volvo Masters), and 21 Gentlemen teed off in beautiful sunshine for the 11th Marbella Challenge Trophy. Fine weather, the speed of the greens, and the position of the pins, combined to give the lowest scoring ever. This year's winner, with 27 pts. was Nigel Jordan M. D. of J Devine C.E. Ltd. Nigel was the MOST popular winner, he was one of the original party who used to travel on Concorde, when the competition was 'The Peter Alliss trophy' (1985-1992). Jason Matthias, Secretary of 'The Marbella Challenge Trophy', said; 'We were very pleased to have raised £1000 for the Lighthouse Club and our committee has already chosen The Lighthouse Club for this years competition in December, once again at Valderrama. |
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Gap Group HAV Exposure Guide Gives Club Publicity and Promises Funding.
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October 2005 |
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 David Graham presents a cheque for £6,335.42 raised by Speedy Employees to Kevin Clancy member of the Lighthouse Club National Council. Steve Corcoran, now the top man at Speedy Hire, is a long standing and generous supporter of our Benevolent Fund. In June of this year Steve initiated a conference involving all of the company's Senior Management, together with Area and Depot Managers, in all over 700 employees. This great gathering assembled in Manchester's Palace Hotel, the purpose: to review achievements, discuss strategy and plan for the future. Rounding off a very intense day, the delegates gathered for dinner. In his address, Steve drew their attention to the envelope which graced every place setting. The envelope, Steve informed them, was for their personal contribution to the Lighthouse Club Benevolent Fund. And whatever their contribution amounted to, the Company would match it. Match it they did, to give our Fund a very handsome donation: £6,335.42. Thanks to Speedy and all their Staff from our Benevolent Fund's Trustees. Chepstow Plant (International) continue with mailing sponsorship. The fact that the most recent issue of Lighthouse Club News carried an appeal for sponsorship was due to one of those misunderstandings that easily occur: a case of 'I must get around to that'. The reminder letter from the Newsletter Editor sat quietly in John Corcoran's in tray, whilst the Editor, mindful of Chepstow's past generosity, was loath to press for further funding.  Modern offices and workshops close to the M4 and M5 give Chepstow Plant International fast links to their widespread fleet of modern earthmoving equipment. So it was that having received his newsletter, John Corcoran was, within the hour, renewing Chepstow's £3,000 p.a. sponsorship pledge. This was a call that the Editor was, needless to say, very pleased to receive. It meant that for a further year Lighthouse Club News is not far from being fully sponsored. More info: www.c-p-international.com - and Moffat Press do the rest The preparation, printing, packing and dispatch, together with the paper and envelopes required for our full colour eight page newsletter is entirely free of charge; a gift from Moffat Press, the publishers of, among other journals, Resale Weekly, the Plant Industry's 'Bible' for spares and used equipment.  This is one of a pair of modern presses that print off 'Lighthouse Club News' in very short order! This extremely generous arrangement has been ongoing for six years, and has enabled the Club to give our members a much wider view of the Club's activities. 'And', says the Editor, 'it's not just the cost, it's the time, help, and advice that is given freely by everybody in Moffat's East London printing works - from Chairman Maureen Croft, (our second lady member), and M.D. Danny Moffat to the local ladies who 'stuff' our inserts. For all the staff the Lighthouse Club is 'one of the family'. |
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September 2005 |
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| Volvo Construction Equipment Ltd uses Hillhead 2005 to
raise £1589.46p for its premier charity - The Lighthouseclub. "Over the last two or three Hillhead shows, we've become synonymous for giving away waste paper bins as a promotional activity and they've always proved popular," comments Volvo CE's promotions manager, Mark Gunns. "This year we decided we ought to get a donation to the Lighthouse Club for each one we gave away, and we are really pleased with the result." The bins, styled on a 5 litre hydraulic oil can depict Volvo construction equipment products in a variety of interesting applications. Anyone who would like to acquire their own celebrated Volvo bin, and make a contribution to the Lighthouse Club, can contact either Mark Gunns or Pat Rowlandson at Volvo CE's headquarters at Duxford on 01223 836636.  Parts sales personnel, Pat Rowlandson and Brian Clampin smile for the camera at Volvo's Duxford headquarters with cheque for £1589.46p and celebrated bins! |
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