The Bristol Hoteliers Association (BHA) is funding a two-day mental health course for hospitality workers in the city.
A dozen places are available on the first course, which will run at the Bristol Hotel in June, and those places are being offered to all BHA members.
BHA Chair Raphael Herzog said: “In the aftermath of the pandemic and the cost-of-living crisis, we know that more and more people have struggled with mental health issues.
“The impact of Brexit, the pandemic and the economic climate has been huge on our sector. You only have to look at the number of hospitality businesses which have been forced to close in recent years to see that impact.
“It causes a lot of uncertainty, as people become understandably concerned about their jobs, their incomes, and the effect this could have on their families.
“We had a small fund of money available and I thought it was important to allocate some of that towards training, we are hoping we will have more than 12 people so that we can run a second course.
“Our aim is to make sure that we have, within the BHA, a solid base of mental health first aid-trained people.
“Our wish is that, eventually, there will be more people in every BHA hotel trained, so that they can be approached by their colleagues, should they feel a need to talk to someone about any mental health issues.
“Of course, it might be that someone doesn’t feel comfortable speaking to someone who works in the same hotel as them, so we will open a list of mental health first aid-trained people within the BHA.
“Anyone working for a BHA hotel can then approach any of these trained people, regardless of whether they work at the same hotel or not, to talk, and for help and advice.
“Hospitality is a very people-orientated sector, and it’s so important that we do everything we can to look after our people, who have worked so hard over the past few years in such challenging times.”
