Hospitality Action and #VATsTheProblem Join Forces to Walk for Wellbeing

UK charity Hospitality Action’s annual fundraising event, Walk for Wellbeing, has partnered with #VATsTheProblem campaign to highlight the financial pressures facing the hospitality sector and the direct impact these can have on the mental health and wellbeing of its people.

With the industry facing unprecedented pressure, conversations around mental health, wellbeing and financial resilience have never been more important. As hospitality businesses are forced to navigate an increasingly challenging operating environment, with financial pressures, under-resourcing and demanding workloads often impacting mental health, the partnership provides a platform to raise awareness of these challenges and advocate for meaningful support.

The #VATsTheProblem campaign is calling for a 10% rate of VAT for hospitality, bringing the UK in line with the European average. Spearheaded by chef Tom Kerridge and supported by UKHospitality, the British Beer and Pub Association, the British Institute of Innkeeping and CODE Hospitality, to date, more than 395,000 people have signed the #VATsTheProblem petition.

The partnership will officially come to fruition at this year’s Walk for Wellbeing, taking place between 10-25 October in fourteen different cities around the UK. Businesses, teams and individuals across hospitality are invited to unite and take part in a city near them, walking side by side to champion wellbeing in all its forms, be it mental, physical or financial.

Alongside raising vital funds for Hospitality Action, Walk for Wellbeing and #VATsTheProblem will also be encouraging participants and the wider industry to demonstrate strength and solidarity by adding their voice to the conversation around the pressures facing the industry, as well its call for a national 10% cut in VAT.

Mark Lewis, CEO at Hospitality Action, said:

“There is real power in standing together. For Hospitality Action, whilst the focus is on supporting hospitality workers and ensuring they have access to support when they need it, there is also a need to understand and address the wider issues that can contribute to poor mental health in the first place.

“Our partnership with #VATsTheProblem allows us to reach more people to highlight these wider challenges and show what those pressures can mean for our people. Walk for Wellbeing gives the industry a positive way to come together and support one another and show the strength of a sector that looks out for its own.”

Spearhead of the #VATsTheProblem campaign, chef and patron of Hospitality Action, Tom Kerridge, said:

“I’m delighted that Hospitality Action and the #VATsTheProblem campaign are joining forces to spark conversations about how we look after one another amid the ongoing challenges hospitality is currently facing.

“It’s more important than ever that we support each other in hospitality and by getting behind both Hospitality Action and the VAT campaign, we can make our voices heard and bang the drum for hospitality.

“Together, let’s support Hospitality Action and call for a fairer future for our sector, with a 10% hospitality VAT rate in line with Europe.”

Walk for Wellbeing. Walk for Hospitality.

Let’s walk the walk and make a positive difference together.

Take part in Walk for Wellbeing 2026 at one of fourteen 10km or 20km nationwide walks between 10 – 25 October in Birmingham, Bristol, Bath, Cardiff, Cornwall, Devon, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hampshire, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle and York. For more information and to register, please visit www.walkforwellbeing.org.

For more information about #VATsTheProblem and to sign the petition, please visit www.vatstheproblem.co.uk.