Hospitality charities to support in 2024
The hospitality sector is awash with ambition and growth, powered by our amazing community and the charities that work hard to support those working within it.
We’ve seen so much positive change throughout 2023, now it’s time to look forward to the future and see what some of our favourite hospitality charities have planned for 2024.
Caterer.com are proud to be able to support these incredible charities to help them continue to be able to provide the vital support they do to those in our hospitality family – for many, they are a lifeline.
If you’re able to support them in their missions, we encourage you to check out their websites to see how you can get involved, whether that’s by donating or participating in one of their many engaging fundraising activities.
Be Inclusive Hospitality
Be Inclusive Hospitality is a not-for-profit social enterprise that seeks to accelerate race equality within the hospitality sector through a data-led approach. BIH create helpful resources and host a calendar of engaging live events that educate and empower both employers and employees within our industry.
In 2023, BIH achieved a lot of things:
They published the third edition of their Inside Hospitality Report with insights from 3,000 responses, launching the report at the prestigious Four Seasons, Park Lane.
Continued to deliver exciting live events such as: workshops for leading hospitality brands, courses, trips, and the sparkling BIH Spotlight Awards – amongst many others with a total of over 500 guests!
BIH also experienced some fantastic growth by expanding their operations to Birmingham, broadening the scope of their impact and reaching the wider hospitality community throughout the UK. They also welcomed plenty of new members, increasing their member base to 620!
2024 is looking to be an exciting year for BIH:
They’ll be releasing more industry reports and campaigns to bring crucial insights and information to drive positive change within the community.
A major goal for BIH in 2024 is to directly support 300 people from underrepresented backgrounds with funded programmes to provide opportunities to upskill and develop.
BIH are also seeking to work with more organisations within the hospitality sector, to increase their outreach and involve more leaders within the community.
Only A Pavement Away
Only A Pavement Away are the hospitality sector’s charity for helping those in need to get back on their feet, whether that’s due to homelessness, being a prison-leaver, or other often complicated reasons. Through providing training and employment within hospitality, OAPA helps vulnerable people to find a pathway back to stability.
2023 has been a busy year:
OAPA have run a variety of exciting campaigns throughout the year that have raised critical funds for the incredible work they do, including bike rides, the CEO sleepout, marathons, the Cook ‘N’ Dine, the Winter Warmth campaign, and many more.
OAPA have also filled 410 jobs to date with the members that they have supported.
They also celebrated their 5th anniversary and launched their very own podcast: ‘Hospitality Against Homelessness, An Only A Pavement Away Podcast’ where they discuss best practices for championing diversity and inclusion in hospitality.
Plans for 2024 include:
More adrenaline-fuelled fundraising activities such as marathons, hikes, extreme hikes, amongst others.
OAPA have the impressive goal of helping 1000 people facing homelessness into employment by the end of 2024 – and there’s no reason they can’t achieve this with your support.
Hospitality Action
Hospitality Action provide financial and emotional support to hospitality families, often helping them to stay afloat in the cost-of-living crisis – which has presented an additional challenge to many in already difficult times. HA also provide many hospitality employers with access to the Employee Assistance Programme.
2023 was another successful year for HA:
This year HA hosted another set of successful fundraising events, from the virtual ‘Summer Challenge’, to a charity polo, even an egg and spoon race, and the well-loved Walk for Wellbeing. The Walk for Wellbeing brought together hospitality people from all areas of the sector and raised an incredible £100,000!
They launched their new step-by-step wellbeing guide aimed at hospitality organisations, educating and allowing them to become better equipped to improve and maintain their employees’ wellbeing.
HA also continued to succeed in providing their much-needed services to more users than ever – making a huge difference every day to the lives of so many.
2024 may contain:
Another full calendar of events – with everything from mental health first aid training courses, to cycling challenges, auctions, and so much more.
If your hospitality business is interested in embracing a fun way to raise funds for Hospitality Action, consider adding ‘Invisible Fries’ to your menu in 2024.
There will also be other opportunities to get involved in fundraising for hospitality businesses, such as donating prizes to one of HA’s many auctions or giveaways.
Institute of Hospitality
The Institute of Hospitality is an award-winning, global professional body for the hospitality industry with a history that spans 85 years.
One of the institute’s primary commitments is delivering continuing professional development and lifelong learning across the industry – creating a hospitality family that supports each other to deliver excellence and share best practice at every stage and level.
There was plenty to celebrate in 2023:
The institute’s community has grown exponentially this year, through their worldwide network, business partnerships, and company sponsored memberships.
The IoH also reimagined and relaunched what had previously been known as their Future Forum, under the new identity of the DEIB Council – with a mission to drive forward the recognition of diversity within talent in the hospitality sector.
They also expanded their award-winning Youth Council, welcoming in a number of new members throughout the year, constantly advancing and improving, propelling hospitality into the future through engaging the younger generations.
Looking forward to 2024:
The IoH plans to continue to provide relevant, accessible, and exciting professional membership services, personal development, mentoring, accredited training and development education, and to support members across the world achieve their full professional potential.
By working tirelessly to inspire and develop young people and educators, the IoH will help ensure the hospitality sector is seen as a progressive career choice, securing future talent pipelines.
Springboard
The Springboard charity was founded with the purpose of supporting the hospitality industry and those seeking employment within it, with three key aims: advancing the life and skills of young people through education, relieving poverty and unemployment by assisting people to secure jobs in the hospitality sector, and tackling ongoing problems faced by the hospitality sector – including staff and skills shortages and misrepresentation about what a fulfilling career it can provide.
What did 2023 look like?
This year Springboard were super busy and held a host of engaging and rewarding activities including: the Springboard Awards for Excellence, the Springboard FutureHost challenge, they took part in the Fit for Hospitality run, hosted a Virtual Race Around for World, and so much more!
From all of the above activities, an incredible amount of money was raised by the hospitality community for Springboard and the crucial work that they do, with the Virtual Race alone raising a whopping £82,000!
Springboard also published their Impact Report, a document which looked at the data around the progress of their mission over the last financial year.
Coming up in 2024:
In next year’s plans, Springboard aim to continue to nurture young people into stable and fulfilling hospitality careers through educational programmes in schools and beyond.
The charity also seek to continue to make a difference to the perception of the hospitality sector through their series of workshops, events, and campaigns. This is vital for preserving the viability of future hospitality talent pipelines.
After this year’s successful trek in Nicaragua, Springboard are aiming to smash all of their previous records with 2024’s upcoming Cambodia trek of 100km in April-May, starting in Siem Reap and finishing at the beautiful Angkor Wat.
How to get involved and support the charities?
To get onboard and support these incredible charities – please visit their websites above for more information and follow us on our social media platforms to keep tabs on how Caterer.com is involved in progressing their missions. We will proudly keep our audience up to date with the exciting events and programmes that happen throughout the year.
Most importantly, thank you to all of our featured charities for their hard work in creating a safe and empowering environment within our beloved sector – you rock the hospitality world.
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