Only A Pavement Away, the charity aiding prison leavers, veterans and those facing homelessness back into employment in the hospitality industry, is reporting great success for its latest campaign, which is providing vital support to those helped by the charity this winter.
The Hospitality Against Homelessness campaign, which has been designed to raise awareness and funding, launched on World Homeless Day in October. It encourages operators, individual donors, and partner organisations to support the charity in a variety of different ways, including helping to fund the charity’s Member Stability Grants Scheme – a payment of up to £1,500 given during the first 12 months of starting employment within the sector, to provide short time financial support, stability and independence to any member struggling with adjusting or reintegrating back into society.
To date, the campaign has raised over £22,000 through independent fundraising initiatives with partner organisations, and umbrella activations such as National Winter Warmth Week (14th – 20th November) and CEO Sleepout London (21st November). The Hospitality Against Homelessness campaign will continue into early 2023.
Partner organisations that have got involved through dedicated fundraising initiatives include:
– CAPCO which has supported the charity through its annual Covent Garden Christmas Auction
– Brewdog which is encouraging customers at its ‘Doghouse Manchester’ venue to donate to the charity when they order from a brand-new winter food menu
– Pho which has created a festive chocolate orange martini with 50p from every cocktail sold going straight to the charity
– Speciality Brands, Café Pacifico and Ilegal Mezcal which collectively has created the ‘Love Thy Neighbour campaign’ and will see £2 from the sales of every La Monita cocktail go to Only A Pavement Away
– The Blacklock team which has completed a 5K Santa Run with all monies raised going to the charity
In umbrella activations, 17 Hospitality Leaders including Martin Williams (CEO, M Restaurants & Gaucho), Andy Hornby (CEO, The Restaurant Group) and Steve Alton (CEO, BII) took on the CEO Sleepout at Lord’s Cricket Ground in November, alongside charity Founder, Greg Mangham. The intrepid crew slept outside overnight to raise over £33,000, an impressive contribution to the final total of £200K raised (the highest ever raised at a CEO Sleepout event) for homeless charities, including Only A Pavement Away.
Only A Pavement Away’s National Winter Warmth Week (14th – 20th November) encouraged vital donations of warm clothing and toiletries for rough sleepers, which were then distributed by 27 participating hospitality operators including, Gaucho Group, Mr Yum, Big Hug Brewing, Sisban, Pub Love, IHG, The Ivy Collection, Bee Recruitment and Zonal. 500 bags in total were collected and distributed to local homeless charities across London, Edinburgh, Cambridge, Norfolk, Brighton, Manchester, Birmingham, Oxford, Glasgow, and Cardiff. The support for this initiative from the sector was inspiring and it will continue into the new year with Craft Union running collections across their entire estate between January and March 2023.
In December, Mollie Huckerby completed the last of her 6 walking marathons in Central London, during her epic fundraising attempt Mollie Goes Walking, Mollie has raised £3,000 in total for the charity and walked a total of 156 miles.
Other hospitality businesses who have supported the charity through the Hospitality Against Homelessness campaign include Greene King, Caterer.com, The Royal Warrant Holders Association, Nutritics, Our Place Manchester, Red Engine, Sessions, Earl of Chatham, and SSP Group.
Hospitality technology provider, Zonal, has also signed with Only A Pavement Away as an official Partner and the Zonal team will be supporting a variety of events and campaigns in the next 12 months to raise money for the charity including Cook & Dine, Pedalling for Pubs and Hike Against Homelessness.
Greg Mangham, CEO and Founder of Only A Pavement Away, says:
“We’re delighted with the success we’ve seen with the Hospitality Against Homelessness campaign – our biggest and best campaign to date! We’d like to extend a big thank you to all the individuals and businesses who have taken part – it’s a real testament to our fantastic industry.
“The monies raised will help to ensure that the members of our charity can be fully supported with all the guidance and financial aid they need to ensure a stable pathway to successful and ongoing employment.”
Only A Pavement Away’s Hospitality Against Homelessness campaign is supporting people like Jon Paul who has found stability through employment after spending time in prison. Only A Pavement Away member, Jon Paul, says: “If it wasn’t for my job, I probably would have been doing things I shouldn’t have been and more than likely wouldn’t have been stable. So, it’s helped me to get used to the normal way of life and working, it’s a big thing.”
