About Us. Our Impact.
This page outlines what we’ve achieved since 2020 and suggests ways you can help us do more.
Over the last four years the hospitality sector has faced unprecedented challenges. It was amongst the hardest hit by the pandemic, and the subsequent supply-chain shocks and cost-of-living crisis are fuelling a collapse in the viability of countless hospitality businesses. Many continue to fail, placing even more livelihoods at risk.
We have thrown our arms around an industry sector in turmoil providing emotional support to over 200,000 workers via our Grant giving, Employee Assistance Programme, Advisory Services, Helplines and Golden Friends retiree outreach scheme.
We continue to lead the way in financial, practical and emotional support to some of the most vulnerable people in society.
Our constantly evolving service provision has been possible thanks to award-winning innovation in fundraising.
Since the start of 2020...
How we’ve helped.
Hospitality Action has a strong heritage supporting the hospitality sector, and we’ve been well-placed to quickly mobilise in response to the shocks it has endured in the past four years.
We help hospitality people by providing financial assistance and advice to those in extreme poverty or dealing with physical or mental health challenges. Since the start of 2020, we have spent some £4,000,000 and awarded more than 12,500 grants to hospitality households across the UK.
Alongside our grant making activities, we provide advice, mental health support and signposting to the whole hospitality workforce via an online advice hub and 24-hour helpline. Since 2020 we have answered 30,000 calls to our helpline and delivered 8,775 counselling sessions.
Our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) is the gold standard in employee care, providing comprehensive wraparound support with access to counsellors and experts in areas such as parenting, legal matters and debt management. Developed specifically for the industry, the scheme also features specific managerial resources and trauma support in the event of a critical incident. Our EAP currently protects more than 200,000 employees and their families.
More than 2,000 older beneficiaries have membership of our Golden Friends scheme, a befriending and contact scheme designed to keep loneliness and isolation at bay. Members benefit from a dedicated helpline and receive birthday and Christmas cards plus quarterly newsletters designed to help them get the best out of life and to stay connected to the industry.
A focus on 2023.
The threat of eviction or court action for unpaid utility or council tax bills quickly became the main driver of applications for our support. For working families, the very real threat of homelessness often had a catastrophic impact on their mental health sometimes resulting in periods of absence from work.
The summer of 2023 saw a surge in ‘high risk’ applications for support not experienced since the early days of the first Covid lockdown. What started as a spike simply became the new reality with applications at far higher levels than at any time in our almost 200 year history.
Grant Applications
2021-2023
2024 outlook.
During turbulent times Hospitality Action has stood firm to support the most vulnerable in the sector and to act as a beacon of hope for those in crisis.
To meet the needs of the industry we serve, we have been quick to innovate in both how we support those who call for our help and how we fund our charitable operations.
As we move through 2024 and beyond it remains clear that financial hardship and the risk of homelessness will continue to be a threat to the wellbeing of thousands of hospitality workers.
Sadly, no third sector organisation can resolve the extreme poverty many in society experience today, but we are determined to leave nobody behind. We work tirelessly to build the resilience, knowledge and confidence of everybody who reaches out for our help.
Your support is needed today, just as much as it was in the early days of the pandemic.
Impact Statistics.
Primary reason for application*
2023
*Most applications for help report multiple issues, such as ill health and poverty, therefore we report the primary reason.
Age range
2023
Regions
2023
Financial support.
Against a background of increasingly insecure work and ever-rising living costs, an alarming number of hospitality households fell into the most serious categories of debt. In 2023 we awarded 2,322 grants valued at £914,432.
We awarded 235 of our newly developed Household Arrears Grant with an average payment of £857. This grant combines financial assistance and supports in negotiations with creditors to ensure our beneficiaries can alleviate some arrears and stay in their homes.
When the Household Arrears Grant wasn’t possible an additional 55 grants were awarded towards rehousing, often supporting with rent deposits or advances.
We also upgraded our online advice provision, referred 91 cases to debt restructuring partners and we increased our helpline capacity to ensure we were able to provide a listening ear and in-the-moment support to beneficiaries.
How we fundraise.
Every penny Hospitality Action awards to beneficiaries is only possible thanks to the generosity of our wonderful supporters. We’re fortunate to host a variety of outstanding fundraising events across the UK and collaborate with hundreds of operators, suppliers, institutional funders, and individuals who recognise the joy hospitality brings to their lives and want to support it during challenging times.
The Summer Challenge, initiated at the peak of the pandemic, continued to unite our industry. We called on supporters to rise to the occasion and collectively travel 75,000 miles in 11 days. Their incredible efforts raised £85,000.
The South West Polo Day was the last of our flagship events to return post-pandemic. Eight award-winning regional chefs gathered at Beaufort Polo Club in Gloucestershire, and raised over £57,000.
Walk for Wellbeing powered by UK hospitality talent partner mum invited the nation to take strides towards promoting better wellbeing whilst raising funds to support our vital work. 800 participants took part in 2023 and raised over £100,000.
Winter Chefs’ Dinner Eight of London’s finest chefs cooked up a gastronomical feast at our exceptional fundraising dinner at Nobu Hotel London Portman Square. An incredible £85,000 was raised in the process.
Corporate support.
Our corporate partners are the backbone of our fundraising. Not only do they help us raise vital funds, they also advocate for our brand. We partner with businesses of all shapes and sizes and work with them to achieve their CSR, ESG, communication and philanthropic goals.
The Spirit of Hospitality Ambassadors Chris Mitchell and Robbie Laidlaw of The Genuine Dining Co. undertook a gruelling feat of endurance, competing in the ‘world’s toughest row’, a 3,000-mile journey across the Atlantic. The pair were at sea for 38 days, battled 20-foot waves and guided their boat through extreme heat to raise more than £250,000.
Fundraising campaigns.
In a rapidly changing world, we continued to embrace creativity and develop core fundraising innovations.
0% Fat, 100% Charity. Invisible Chips are an award-winning delicacy available on menus nationwide. Who knew buying a portion of nothing could change everything for hospitality people in crisis?
Institutional fundraising.
We work closely with Corporate Trusts, Worshipful Companies, private individuals and wealth managers to create bespoke funding opportunities for targeted support to a particular remit or beneficiary cohort.
We provide detailed case studies on how funds are deployed communicating with stakeholders across multi-year projects to ensure transparency and demonstrate impact. We’re proud of our notable long-standing partnerships with organisations including The Savoy Educational Trust, the Worshipful Company of Innholders and the Worshipful Company of Cooks.
Download our impact report social video here.
Download assetsDownload our latest impact report here.
Download PDFRecent Case Studies.
Rochelle’s Story.
In normal times, we help people through physical and mental health issues, poverty, addiction, relationship breakdown, domestic abuse, bereavement and all the other challenges that can affect us all. But of course, these are not normal times.
Parents are having to choose between feeding their children and heating their homes. For some, the bailiffs are already at the door. The pressure of poverty is relentless and has a ruinous effect on mental health as families are slowly engulfed by mounting costs and spiralling debt. For single mums like Rochelle, the mounting pressure can be too much.