Lighthouse, a place of refuge and hope

As part of their annual activity day the Woking staff of Q8Aviation took time off from their normal duties to help a local Charity. The Lighthouse Project is a charitable project which supports the wellbeing of the disadvantaged within the local Woking community. This support includes providing food donations and meals for those in need, supplying clothes, toys and equipment for younger children, and helping the homeless and recovering addicts to integrate them back into society.

The charity is centred in an extended building in Woking town centre covering 3 floors and including a large basement. The building is currently undergoing refurbishment and there was a clear need to assist on this whilst also progressing with the additional tasks of clearing the building of unwanted materials and organising the clothes and materials donated by the public and local business.

Q8Aviation visited the Lighthouse on the 20th of September and the 34 staff were divided into 6 teams, each responsible for a different task. The tasks were as follows:

• Duncan Storey team was tasked with clearing out redundant materials and organising supplies so that they were accessible for future building work
• Nada Albakri and her team sorted large amounts of second hand clothes and toys and made it ready for families to collect
• Julian Amesbury and his team were responsible for supplying resources including materials, tools and equipment.
• Mary Henderson and her team have turned the outside roof into a beautiful roof top garden, fully equipped with outdoor furniture, pots and plants, and even cushions made by staff.
• Jemma Bushnell and Karen Rosati provided a home cooked lunch and tasty deserts for all working members.
• Martin Stanley’s team have built shelves to store and display the food for the Food Bank.

Social Committee member Julian Amesbury says “Supporting local communities is an important part of Q8’s social responsibility and we are delighted to help the Lighthouse Project, which makes a vital contribution to helping vulnerable people in our local area. It was a great pleasure to see everyone in our team working together for such an important cause.”

To volunteer to help The Lighthouse Project or to give a donation, contact the Light house project manager, Mark Richmond at +44 7798 802 195.