Blog. Thank you to The Worshipful Company of Innholders
November 21, 2022 | Author: Giuliana Vittiglio
At Hospitality Action we support everyone who works in our industry; from students behind the bar supplementing their studies to stalwarts celebrating ruby anniversaries at the same hotel. And when retirement beckons we continue to assist our people via our popular Golden Friends Scheme.
Since 2012, The Worshipful Company of Innholders has financially supported our Golden Friends, donating hundreds of thousands of pounds, to ensure the scheme’s status as a long-standing safety net for some of the most vulnerable in our industry. This financial aid has provided a lifeline to over 1,500 industry retirees at any one time, especially crucial during the peak of the pandemic when many of our Golden Friends were left isolated from friends, family and local support networks.
At the heart of our Golden Friends Scheme is a volunteer telephone befriending service to keep isolation at bay as well as access to advice and signposting services and our Main Grants programme. Additional benefits include:
Winter Fuel Grants
Thanks to The Worshipful Company of Innholders we are able to provide financial assistance to our Golden Friends over the coldest months of the year. Last winter we increased our Winter Fuel Grant from £150 to £165 per household, to reflect the sky-high costs of heating a home and were able to support 193 Golden Friends. This winter, thanks to the continued generous support of The Worshipful Company of Innholders, we have increased the grant even further, to £200 per household, helping to fuel a minimum of 210 cold homes. Appreciation for the grants these is widespread, here’s what just two Golden Friends had to say:
“Your grant helped to take away my worries about heating my home this winter and meant I was able to keep heating on for longer in cold weather and use my tumble dryer on wet days. Thank you.”
“I was feeling very low and worried about rising costs, living alone. I now know that my heating can be on all the time, and I won’t have to choose between eating or heating.”
Digital Upskilling
Levels of digital literacy among Golden Friends has been a focus of our work in recent years due to social exclusion resulting from Covid-19 and the move by the government and many other institutions to take a ‘digital by default’ approach to accessing services such as benefits, GP appointments and banking.
Additionally, during the pandemic, Golden Friends reported anxiety around their lack of digital skills and how not being able to stay connected with their family, friends, and carers, led to low mood. From these initial conversations grew the concept of creating easy-to-follow guides to help Golden Friends master the basics of digital technology and connect with the digital world.
Thanks to the financial support of The Worshipful Company of Innholders we have produced two A4 Digital Confidence Guides to encourage and empower Golden Friends in this area. Guide One helps develop and improve digital independence; and Guide Two explains banking and shopping apps, as well as some fun things to do online, including games and challenges.
Guidance ranges from how to set up and send an email to how to book repeat prescriptions online. Needless to say, both guides have been well received here’s what just one Golden Friends had to say about them:
“Thanks for the guide I received with help on how to use a phone and shop online. Really useful, and I’ve already started to press more of the buttons on my phone to see what they can do. I was a bit afraid before, but the pictures really helped me to understand a bit better.”
Newsletter and Gifts
The Golden Friends newsletter is posted quarterly and is packed with an eclectic mix of charity and wider industry news, and is posted alongside gifts and cards on special occasions. Without doubt, from the feedback we have received, the newsletter, personalised cards and small Christmas gifts are the most cherished benefits of the scheme. For some members, contact
with the outside world is few and far between, so just hearing the thud of post on their door mat is a pleasure. The funds we receive from The Worshipful Company of Innholders enable our newsletter to become a reality, here’s what just one Golden Friend had to say:
“My late husband enjoyed the newsletter very much, and receiving [birthday] cards from you too. I now look forward to receiving it - it helps me remember John, which is comforting.”
Dr Rebecca Tomlin, Clerk of The Worshipful Company of Innholders, says: “We have the utmost respect for those who have gone before us and made our industry such a vibrant and core part of today’s society. Having spent a lifetime in the service of others it’s only right that we assist our industry retirees and ensure they receive all the care and support they require. We are honoured to support this life-enhancing programme and proud of the difference we have made over the last decade.”
Heartfelt thanks once again to The Worshipful Company of Innholders for the crucial role they have played in keeping our Golden Friends Scheme alive. If your business would like to lend a hand or you know an industry retiree keen to join the programme, please get in touch.