BAND OF BUILDERS APPOINTS FIRST CEO
As part of ambitious plans to significantly increase Band of Builders’ ability to help members of the UK construction industry who are battling illness or injury, we have appointed our first Chief Executive Officer.
Gavin Crane has taken up the newly created role, and his first challenge is to map out the strategy and direction for the next 5–10 years as we as a charity look to build on our three cornerstones of providing practical support by completing projects, offering financial help to tradespeople facing hardship and making wellbeing services readily accessible to anyone in the construction industry who is in crisis.
Gavin, who was formerly Chair of the Board of Trustees, said: “In its simplest form, the new CEO role will mean ensuring that more people support Band of Builders, so we can help more people.
“It’s a very exciting time to be part of Band of Builders because the charity is gaining huge momentum, which is all down to the commitment of so many of our base of volunteers, who give their time generously to support the charity and its activities. It’s also down to the benefactors and sponsors who have given us significant financial support – in many cases making us their official charity partner.
“The board of trustees has ambitious plans for the growth of the charity, and the creation of this role is a huge statement of intent. I’m looking forward to being at the heart of taking Band of Builders to the next level.”
As well as being tasked with building more strategic partnerships and developing more fundraising opportunities, Gavin also has a wider-reaching ambition to be a positive voice on issues affecting the construction industry, such as apprenticeships, the skills gap, inclusion and gender discrimination.
His appointment comes at a time when we are working to complete a record-breaking 12 projects this year and are making plans for our second annual Big Brew event this October (to highlight mental health within the construction industry and raise funds to expand on our recently launched wellbeing support service). We are also expecting a rise in requests for financial assistance if the cost of living crisis continues to bite.
Gavin added: “I want to publicly thank everyone who helped Band of Builders get to this point, including all our volunteers and wider membership base, which is approaching 50,000 people. I’d also like to thank our sponsors and partners, including DeWALT, Jewson, Gibbs & Dandy, V12 Footwear, Talasey, Resideo and Haemmerlin. I’m very excited about what comes next, and I’m looking forward to more people becoming part of our charity and activities.”
Gavin has 20 years’ experience as a commercial landscaping contractor and first became involved with Band of Builders in 2017, when he was the Project Lead on the charity’s second project, from which he says: “I got the bug.”
He joined the admin team in 2017 and continued taking part in projects. He started building relationships with corporate partners and joining in with fundraising activities. Gavin became a trustee in 2018 and our Chair of Trustees in 2020, before stepping down from the role earlier this year and winding down his own contracting business to take up the position as CEO.
Away from work, he and partner Louise have recently taken on an allotment as a way to relax.