Members of Pagabo, The 55 Group and teams across our eco-system have put their bodies on the line to raise funds and awareness around mental health issues within the industry by taking part in the Feelgood Games. With 130 people taking part across two days, the group has ultimately raised £31,000 for The Pagabo Foundation.
With people from industry-leading companies including Faithful + Gould, Pick Everard and Ashe, participants teamed up to take on an intensive obstacle course at the event, which took place alongside the UK’s Real Estate Investment & Infrastructure Forum (UKREiiF) in Leeds.
The Pagabo Foundation launched the Feelgood Games to encourage actions as part of its ongoing commitment to supporting improved mental health within the construction industry. The fitness initiative aimed to get the industry moving, highlighting the value of exercise in maintaining better mental health.
Jason Stapley, our managing director and lead for the Pagabo Foundation, said: “We’ve had such a good time bringing people together for the Feelgood Games, but even more we’re thrilled to see people really getting behind our aim – and to raise such an extraordinary amount of money from the event is the cherry on the cake.
“The construction industry has long needed to address its mental health epidemic, with latest research carried out by the CIOB revealing that 26 per cent of professionals thought about taking their own lives in 2019.
“The Pagabo Foundation is dedicated to raising funds to provide support and training designed to improve the industry’s overall wellbeing. We stand in a position to bring everyone together in the industry to improve the way things are done to reduce stresses and other factors that impact mental health – but we need to tackle this together.”
Participants worked on a group basis, ranked on their collective time to complete the course, with Lindum Group being the quickest. To reflect the need for the industry to work together to create change for mental health, teams were also ranked on their collective approach to completing the course, with Vinci Construction being noted as the most collaborative.
The Feelgood Games was sponsored by Faithful + Gould, Edge, Delineo, YourIT, Ashe, BPL, Red Kite Learning Trust, Education Alliance, Morgan Sindall, Maven Investment Partners, Cartwright Communications, Henry Boot Developments and Yondr.