Project manager raises £1,325 for Lighthouse Charity after finishing first Ironman in Italy

Project manager Jack Richards has raised £1,325 for Lighthouse Charity by completing his first Ironman in Italy in 13 hours and 38 minutes, the charity said on 19 October.

Lighthouse said the finish came after nearly three years of preparation. An Ironman is a long-distance triathlon made up of a 3.8km swim, a 180km bike ride and a 42.2km run.

Richards began training after losing his father, according to the charity. He said he was overweight, unfit and unmotivated at the time and knew something had to change.

"I went for a run that day and managed a 3k run, so this has been a massive uphill battle to get fit enough to complete this race," Richards said. He chose Italy, he said, so that he could swim in the Adriatic and ride and run along the coastline.

The training

Richards said he trained for 15 to 18 hours a week and gave up holidays, nights out and weekends to prepare for the event. His partner, mother and sister travelled to Italy to support him, and friends and family held a surprise party on his return.

He chose to fundraise for Lighthouse because he had used its services free of charge during what he described as an incredibly dark period in his life.

"The counselling services provided by Lighthouse helped me get back on top of my mental health and process the things going on in life," Richards said.

He said the process had shown him that, with self-belief and work, anything is possible, even if it takes weeks, months or years.

The charity

Lighthouse Charity has supported the construction community since 1956. It runs a free, confidential 24/7 helpline, a live web chat service and a text service, and says its online chat offers more than 100 languages.

The charity organises its support around three areas: emotional, physical and financial wellbeing. It says it supports thousands of construction workers and their families every year, and that two construction workers take their own life every working day in the UK and Ireland.

Lighthouse receives no public sector funding and depends on donations and fundraising from the industry. It encourages supporters to raise money through challenge events such as marathons and the three peaks.

Demand in 2025

The scale of demand on the charity is set out in its 2025 impact report, released on 16 July 2026. Lighthouse said it funded 8,714 counselling sessions in 2025, a 51% rise on the previous year, and delivered £6.3m of charitable and leveraged support.

It supported 6,712 families with needs including emergency food shops and housing support, and responded to 94 critical incidents, 42% more than in 2024. The charity also said it has enhanced its live web chat service so that it is now available 24/7.

Sarah Bolton, chief executive of Lighthouse Charity, said the charity now has a team of 12 front line call handlers and caseworkers, and that it can only do what it does with the continued support of the industry.

Richards' £1,325 goes into that pot. The charity's counselling, which he used, funded 8,714 sessions last year.