Blog. In Service Through Friendship

The Society of the Golden Keys of Great Britain and the Commonwealth  has a long standing relationship with Hospitality Action (HA). We are a friendly association of hotel concierge that has been in existence since 1952, when a group of Head Hall Porters of several leading London Hotels met and agreed to set up an organisation which closely resembled one formed in France called Les Clefs d’Or (The Golden Keys). The first President was Mr Jimmy Stewart (not the actor!) and he served from 1952 until 1956. As the 20th President of the Society I am thrilled to be able to carry on the great work of all those who have gone before me and of course, continue to work closely with HA.

Within the Society we actually mirror some of the services offered by HA. The Welfare Officer is there to support and acknowledge the numerous life changing events of our members and we send flowers, fruit and cards to any member who falls ill, or are housebound. For our retired members we hold an annual lunch, and send them Christmas cards and gifts, and the Welfare Officer telephones and visits as many of our members as is humanly possible. HA offer a similar service via the Golden Friends scheme, and I’m sure it is purely coincidence that their support network is also “Golden”!

The Society has been a keen supporter of HA for decades, long before I became a member of the Golden Keys back in 1996. I have strong memories of previous committee members encouraging us to support HA and I am so proud to be able to continue this tradition. Each year the Society raises funds by taking part in the London 10K run and participating in an Annual Charity Golf tournament. The raffle proceeds from our annual Gala Dinner and Dance are always donated to HA and this year I had the pleasure of presenting a cheque for £9,170 and hope to continue our fundraising for many years to come.