The Get Active Lockdown Challenge launched by The Burnt Chef Project in January saw 80 individuals from around the country join to raise awareness for mental health by covering 7000km on a virtual tour around 50 Michelin restaurants. The event was supported by the likes of Sat Bains, Paul Ainsworth, JP McMahon and Tom Kerridge and raised almost £3000 towards the cost of a vital text-based support service specifically for hospitality.
Due to the overwhelming response to this challenge The Burnt Chef Project, a not-for-profit social enterprise, went ahead and launched its dedicated Burnt Chef Support Service on the 1st February 2021 to provide 24/7 support to anyone within hospitality who feels like they want to talk to someone about their mental health. This service is free and fully confidential to anyone within hospitality whether Front-of-House, Back-of-House, Operations and even extends to the individuals with the supply chain when they need it most.
Founder of the Burnt Chef Project Kris Hall said:
“To say the last 12 months for hospitality has been hard is an understatement. We have faced challenges we never thought possible and that has taken a toll on everyone’s mental health across the board.
With the Department for Health investing more and more into combating the rising mental health issues we face as a nation we felt it was now or never to help those who may require it. As an industry family we have all shared these tough times together and this is just one of the ways in which we shall continue to tackle the rising mental health epidemic.
We have teamed up with Mental Health Innovations who operate the phenomenally successful SHOUT service which has resulted in us being able to provide dedicated support for all types of mental health challenges, taking people who are struggling to cope to a place of calm every single day of the week.
The service will be manned by real people who are dedicated volunteers all around the UK and overseen by full-time clinical supervisors.
Whether you are a General Manager, Head Chef, Housekeeper, Student, Fishmonger, Cleaner, Waiting Staff or Bar Person this service is here for you. Totally free and whenever you need it.
Thank you to all those that took part in the original Get Active Lockdown Challenge which we officially completed in just 12 days and to those who have now taken the gauntlet on a stage further and are continuing the challenge on our behalf to raise additional funds for this much needed service. Without the generous ongoing donations from both businesses and individuals in the industry we would not be able to continue our ongoing work and market leading innovations.
This support service is here for any individual whenever it is needed. If you feel anxious or stressed, isolated, lonely or grieving, suffering from substance misuse or perhaps you have experienced bullying, depression or sadness, or have relationship worries as well as self-harm and suicidal thoughts then please use this service.
I would ask all managers and business owners to distribute this number throughout their teams as soon as possible to utilise this critical service”
To use this service all you need to do is text: BURNTCHEF to 85258 24/7 and for free and a trained volunteer will aim to respond to you within just 5 minutes.
