The Pavers Foundation, charitable initiative of leading UK shoe retailer has granted £3,000 towards suicide prevention Belfast based charity Lighthouse, following a grant application awarded to Jason Molloy, Manager at Pavers Antrim.
Lighthouse, which recently featured on the BBC’s ground-breaking documentary Our Silent Emergency hosted by Roman Kemp, will use the donation to continue with its core purpose; to save lives, offer advice and support those affected by suicide and self-harm.
Jason applied for grant funding from the Pavers Foundation after understanding the traumatic situation Lighthouse aims to tackle and witnessing the devastating effect it has had on his own community. “I am delighted to be able to donate on behalf of the Pavers Foundation to Lighthouse. This is an organisation that provides professional counselling and intervention for suicide prevention and bereavement. Understandably this is a very sensitive and traumatic issue and a reality for many in our community. I hope that this can go in some way in elevating the suffering and pain of those effected in our communities.”
Cecilia Rice, Senior Finance & Administrative Officer at Lighthouse spoke about how the donation will go towards supporting families who use Lighthouse’s services: “Lighthouse, on behalf of the staff team and service users, would like to convey our sincere thanks to the Pavers Foundation, for their very generous donation of £3,000. This support will facilitate the provision of several lifesaving services, inclusive of individual and group support to families bereaved through suicide. Without the support of organisations such as the Pavers Foundation, Lighthouse could not provide the volume of services that it continues to deliver on, enabling a crisis response service, minimal waiting lists, and making a huge difference across the communities we serve.”
The Foundation was established in 2018 as a legacy to the late Catherine Paver, Pavers Founder. Its sole purpose is to ‘make a difference with every pair’ by utilising the initial investment from the business together with subsequent donations of 2% net profits annually and proceeds from the carrier bag levy. The Foundation has recently reached its £1 million milestone of charitable giving which has had a positive impact on tens of thousands of lives across the UK and the world. The vast majority of the donations are awarded to charities voted for by colleagues working in the business through votes for annual charities and individual grant applications.
