London event will tackle ‘huge scale’ mental health problems in hospitality
An event is being held in London next month to raise awareness of the huge scale of mental health issues in the hospitality and events industry.
The HBAA will host the non-profit event at the Holiday Inn London, Kensington Forum, starting at 1.15pm on May 15 during National Mental Health Awareness Week.
Leigh Cowlishaw, HBAA past chair and Board member who is leading the association’s Mental Health Awareness campaign, said: "From a recent survey; one in three people in the hospitality and events industry will experience a mental health issue and the sector is ranked in the top three sectors for stress and mental health problems.
"This latest initiative is one of several being implemented by the HBAA, and is designed to empower all those working in hospitality and events by providing tools and guidance to support them in their professional and personal lives.
"We want everyone to understand that ‘It’s OK Not To Be OK’, and that there is plenty of support available to them.
"This support and self-care is to enable you to look after your wellbeing maintenance and not just to be activated when you need to take time off sick, or visiting the doctors – it should be used as part of your daily routine to look out for yourself and others around you."
The event will feature keynote speaker, Vikie Shanks, and experts providing advice on many aspects of wellbeing and mental health.
Shanks was left to raise seven special needs children alone after her husband tragically committed suicide,
She will document her own journey to ‘normality’ as she tirelessly campaigns for greater awareness of autism, mental health and suicidality.
This event forms part of HBAA’s comprehensive campaign which began in February, when the association’s Executive Committee and board completed training as Mental Health First Aiders.
Open to all hospitality and event industry professionals, including non HBAA members, the event will raise money to train even more HBAA members to become Mental Health First Aiders.
Spaces for the event are limited to 60 and to help maximise funding for more HBAA Mental Health First Aider training places, donations in lieu of attendance can be made by visiting this Justgiving page.
To help tackle this growing problem, HBAA has created two open courses to enable both members and non-members to train their staff to become qualified Mental Health First Aiders. The first two-day course will take place on May 2-3 at the Macdonald Windsor Hotel and the second will be at the Macdonald Burlington Hotel in Birmingham on June 20-21.
Full details of the event and how to book are available here.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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