'Despite the government’s promised aid package, hospitality workers are scared about their immediate future'

Hospitality Action says ‘the numbers don’t lie’ when it comes to applications from hospitality workers for the Covid-19 Hospitality Fund.

Over £159,000 has been raised so far and within the first hour of opening the scheme they had enough applications to pay out every penny.

click to donate: Please give whatever you can today and leave a note in the descriptionthat it is for the covid19 Hospitality fund

Mark Lewis, Hospitality Action CEO, said: “The deluge of demand for our help has been unprecedented. When news spread of our grant on social media, we could barely cope with the traffic it created.

“Over 2 million people were reached by a Facebook post signposting the grant (we normally reach closer to 2000). Our website traffic increased from a few hundred visitors a day to over 51,000, temporarily taking it offline on Sunday. In the moments before the grant launched on Monday, visitors waiting on our site had topped 5,000.

“The numbers don’t lie: despite the government’s promised aid package, hospitality workers are scared about their immediate future.

“We're sure government help will come, but while uncertainty remains, our industry needs us now more than ever.”

He added: “From my two decades proudly serving UK hospitality and admiring its resilience, I know it will emerge from this crisis stronger than ever. But for now our focus must be on supporting our most vulnerable colleagues. Every penny you give will go straight to those who need it most – so please donate now.”

Hospitality Action is also stepping up support for its Golden Friends, the befriending and support network which helps hospitality retirees. They have mobilised an army of industry volunteers to rapidly ramp up the befriending scheme, calling over 1,500 of the most vulnerable and isolated supporters in just a few days.

Mark said: “For many of our Golden Friends this simple act of connection was enough, but we were also able to connect those with more acute needs to local services such as Age UK.”