Hospitality Action is calling for all industry workers to get behind the charity event of the year, Hospitality Action Week.
The fun-filled fundraising week runs from 17th-23rd May and generates vital funding to care for hospitality workers past and present who have fallen on hard times.
This year, Hospitality Action is asking everyone who works in the industry to raise a minimum of £5. It hopes that setting a modest target means people will feel able to meet the challenge and with a 2-million strong workforce, you can imagine the difference it would make if everyone got involved.
Last year’s event raised over £100,000 through an array of activities from themed lunches, football matches and doughnut eating competitions right through to a sponsored 3663 team meeting held at the top of Scaffell Pike!
The easiest way to raise £5 is by going online to enter the HA Big Prize Draw and you could bag yourself an amazing trip to New York. But don’t limit it to this, HA Week is a great opportunity to have fun with friends, customers and colleagues. Here are some ideas to get you started:
- Hold a cake sale
- Host a family fun day with a game of rounders, stalls and a barbecue
- Sponsor the boss to return to the shop floor for a day….and take on your least favourite tasks
- Host an X-Factor style karaoke evening
- Charge your colleagues for a cup of tea
So whether you’re committed to raising £5, £500 or £5,000 Hospitality Action has come up with a whole host of ideas to inspire you. Visit wwww.hospitalityaction.org.uk to register for your fundraising pack today.
So, Jamie Oliver, he responsible for a re-vamp of school meals, ridicule of fast food and the infamous status of turkey twizzlers, appears to have done a u-turn and defended – shock- horror – McDonalds. But before we wonder why, having read his reasoning; free range eggs, high quality beef and organic milk, the main question that springs to mind is, why wouldn’t he? Yes, it’s a huge corporate company selling fast food, but in past years it has really upped its game in terms of a varied food offering with healthy options, easy availability of nutritional information and a fast turnaround in its actions to position itself more favourably on the healthy eating front. Now, Big Mac and fries with a fruit bag on the side??
It would appear that the responsible drinking message isn’t getting through to everyone as research undertaken in the North West has revealed that one in ten people plan on drinking 40 units of alcohol on a night out – the equivalent of an astonishing 20 pints. With recent government campaigns revealing that excessive alcohol consumption can lead to heart attacks, high blood pressure and even cancer there is a real danger that these binge drinkers could end up suffering from something far worse than a hangover.
According to a survey by the BitterSweet Partnership, published in the Morning Advertiser this week, 33% of women are pub regulars.
The survey showed that women visit pubs for their ‘excellent pub food’, ‘great atmosphere’ and ‘good value’. According to the MA the biggest bug bears are an ‘unwelcoming environment’, ‘poor music choice’ and ‘lack of seating’.
I can see the reasoning behind all of these, but what about passion and service? Visiting the pub the other night I asked what wines were available by the glass, and the answer was ‘big or small’. Probing further, and clarifying the question, I asked what varieties were on offer, and was told ‘red or white’ by the clearly uninterested barman.
Once I finally wrestled a wine list from behind the bar, it turned out there was an amazing array on offer. Shame that no one in the pub during this particular barman’s shift would have had any idea that they were available.
Celebrity chef, Marco Pierre White’s new endorsement of Bernard Matthews looks set to get healthy eating campaigners in a flap. Newspiece states that Marco showed all his Gallic charm but little of the culinary nouse that gained him three Michelin stars when he said: “Ever since I was a young boy I’ve been an admirer of Bernard Matthews because he is, without question, one of the great farmers of the last five decades.”
The Publican is pleased to report this week that scores of pubs have signed up to support a scheme they are backing to help raise money for Tap into WaterAid – a project that aims to provide safe water and sanitation in the poorest parts of the world. With the government making it obligatory for licensees to supply free tap water to customers, The Publican is encouraging licensees to ask for a 15p donation for every glass they provide. The campaign could raise a whopping £50,000 over the next 12 months, showing that a little can really go a long way. We think it sounds like a fantastic idea and wouldn’t hesitate in handing over our pennies for such a good cause.
I may have got the winner and second place at The Grand National, but I think the real winners have to be Jockey Club Catering! With over 9,000 bottles of Champagne, 220,000 pints of beer and 100,000 cups of tea and coffee consumed during the 3-day event this truly is a demanding hospitality event – I wouldn’t want to be one of the many nursing sore feet the following day!
I read the Morning Advertiser’s Wi-Fi themed Business Booster – Get Connected – with interest today.
Apparently, experts believe that by adding Wi-Fi to your pub can you add up to as much as £10,000 in extra food and drink sales a year. Not only that, but the article cited statistics that show a pub can gain ‘an average of three new customers using the service each day’. Wow!
In a bid to encourage customers away from the risks of jumping into unlicensed taxi’s at the end of a night out, Shoreditch publicans have joined forces with local police and Hackney Council to launch the simple, yet effective ‘tea and wee’ campaign. As cabbies play a key role in driving the message home (excuse the pun!) about the importance of using licensed cars, those stopping at Shoreditch’s marshalled taxi rank can take advantage of free tea and use of toilet facilities at two local pubs.
Today’s papers report on research from Columbia University which has found a link between eating habits and dementia. According to the researchers, a diet rich in nuts, fish, poultry, tomatoes and green vegetables, and with a limited amount of red meat and butter, may help fight off Alzheimer’s disease.
Despite the odd blip in research – red wine is good for you, for example – there is a distinct pattern to findings from these top universities showing a diet rich in fresh fruit and vegetables is good for you. So why, as a nation, are we so reluctant to eat fresh fruit and veg?
