Bid to raise awareness and money for mental health issues in hospitality

Thursday 11 February 2021

Liberation Group has joined forces with The Burnt Chef Project to raise money for those struggling in the hospitality industry with mental health.

Teams from across Liberation Group’s estate of pubs in the south west and Channel Islands have signed up to compete in the Burnt Chef Project’s ‘Get Active Lockdown Challenge’.

Tracked on fitness platform Strava, for every mile team members run, cycle or swim by the end of March, Liberation Group will donate 25p per mile to the cause.   

“It’s well documented how badly the hospitality industry has been affected during this pandemic, with pubs and restaurants having to close and many businesses unsure what the future holds," said Liberation Group CEO Jonathan Lawson.

“Never before has it been so important for us all to come together and support our colleagues. The idea for this challenge was the brainchild of Jeremy Spencer, one of our operations managers, as a way of keeping colleagues active and positive during lockdown, safe in the knowledge they’re doing something good to help the industry we love.”

The Burnt Chef Project was set up in May 2019 by Kris Hall with the intention of eradicating mental health stigma with the hospitality industry.  Long anti-social hours, tough environmental conditions, pressures to perform and now, the Covid-19 crisis, are just some of the issues that hospitality professionals are fighting against on a daily basis.

“It’s no surprise that the mental health of the world has felt the impacts of Covid-19," said Mr Hall. "No more so than hospitality, who have faced the toughest of restrictions since lockdown was first announced back in March 2020.

“The Burnt Chef Support Service is a vital component to our ongoing work in providing the industry with a listening ear to anyone who may be suffering with their mental health or quite simply want someone to talk to and couldn’t come at a better time. It’s because of the amazing ongoing support that we have from the likes of The Liberation group that we are able to continue developing and implementing services such as this to make the industry stronger and safer for everyone.”

A recent survey of hospitality professionals showed that 8 out of 10 (84%) of respondents had experienced mental health issues within their career and 46% would not feel comfortable talking about their health concerns with their colleagues.  

Any keen runners, swimmers or cyclists who would like to join Liberation Group’s Strava team and help them reach the target of 10,000 miles by the end of March can do so by searching for ‘The Liberation and Butcombe Titans’ on fitness tracking platform Strava and signing up.