The Burnt Chef Project (Hospitality Mental Health)

Aim

The Burnt Chef Project is here to put a stop to mental health stigma within hospitality once and for all. Help us raise awareness!

The hospitality industry is the 3rd largest industry in the UK and employed 3.2 million people before the impacts of COVID-19. It may surprise you to know that it also has one of the highest rates of ill mental health out of most other trades in the UK.

The Facts

• 4 out of 5 hospitality staff have experienced at least one period of poor mental health during their career (Mental Health Survey May 2020)
• More men and women between the ages of 20 - 34 die from suicide every year than any other cause (ONS)
• Just under half of the hospitality people we spoke to wouldn't feel comfortable speaking about their mental health and would suffer in silence (Mental Heath Survey May 2020)
• Stress in the workplace still equates for the highest rates of illness and reason for absence in the UK (HSE)
• The cost to employers of poor mental health is substantial and is estimated at £45 billion (Deloitte)

The Reality

It's no secret that working in hospitality can be tough often with hours in excess of 60 per week with little time for breaks or time with friends or family. Long antisocial hours, tough environmental conditions and pressures to perform are just some of the issues that hospitality professionals are fighting against on a daily basis.

Margins pre COVID-19 were slim and with increased focus on saving money, reduced capacities, additional health concerns and return to long hours after long periods of furlough and financial distress we believe that this impact to mental wellbeing will only increase in the next 2 years as businesses battle to adapt to the restrictions imposed by the pandemic. 

How does The Burnt Chef Project fit into this?

Launched in May 2019 The Burnt Chef Project is a non-profit campaign operating within hospitality to challenge mental health stigma through online training, open conversations and sales of branded custom merchandise.

The project is committed to burning the stigma of mental health through information and education across the 3.2 million people that work within hospitality in the UK.

Just before COVID-19 we conducted a survey of 1273 hospitality professionals which showed that 84% of respondents had experienced mental health issues within their career and 46% would not feel comfortable talking about their health concerns with their colleagues.

Now, more than ever, we believe that hospitality staff should be able to discuss the state of their mental health and gain additional support from their peers, employers and through organisations such as The Burnt Chef Project.

We're all in this together and it's important that although mental health can't be seen it is essential that it is regularly discussed and health and safety policies reviewed to ensure that every last member of staff is protected against ill mental health.

How can you help?

We generate money through the sales of branded merchandise which is designed to open up more conversations on mental health. As a non-profit the profits are then re-invested back into the project in terms of business costs, more merchandise and training for staff in the fields of mental health and management. 

So far over 600 people have bought The Burnt Chef Project branded merchandise and we have trained just under 100 people in various forms of mental health training such as MHFA and Mental Health Awareness all from our profits with zero payments being made to the Director or it's volunteers.

Whilst we have seen a fantastic level of worldwide sales we now want to take the next step and ramp up our activity even further. We aim to generate more profits to then be used to allow access to training for even more people. To do that we need to invest in new stock lines, greater volumes of stock and increase our advertising options which all require spare cashflow. This is where we need your help.

Let us repay you

For every level of donation we want to say thank you so we are giving rewards for your investment.

• £10 Donation

- A personal thank you email from the founder of The Burnt Chef Project

- 1 x 10% discount code to spend on any item available in our online store

• £20 Donation 

- 1 x 20% discount code to spend in the shop on our growing range of merchandise

- 1 x Free branded Markie pen

• £50 Donation

- 1 x Burnt Chef Project t-shirt in your size in either white or black

- 1 x Custom Burnt Chef branded 150 page leather recipe notebook

- 1 x 'Recipes for Mental Health' e-book featuring over 25 of the UK's best chefs

• £75 Donation

- 1 x  F**K Stigma t-shirt in your size in either white or black

- 1 x Custom Burnt Chef branded 150 page leather recipe notebook 

- 1 x Branded wristband

- 1 x Branded Markie pen

- 1 x 'Recipes for Mental Health' e-book featuring over 25 of the UK's best chefs

• £100 Donation

- 1 x  F**K Stigma t-shirt in your size in either white or black

- 1 x Custom Burnt Chef branded 150 page leather recipe notebook 

- 1 x Branded Metal 800ml Drinks Bottle 

- 1 x Branded Markie pen

- 1 x Branded Wristband

- 1 x 'Recipes for Mental Health' e-book featuring over 25 of the UK's best chefs

• £150 Donation

- 2 x  F**K Stigma t-shirt in your size in both white and black

- 2 x Custom Burnt Chef branded 150 page leather recipe notebooks

- 1 x Branded Metal 800ml Drinks Bottle 

- 2 x Branded Markie pens

- 1 x Branded Wristband

- 1 x 'Recipes for Mental Health' e-book featuring over 25 of the UK's best chefs

• £250 Donation

- 2 x  F**K Stigma t-shirt in your size in both white and black

- 2 x The Burnt Chef Project t-shirt in your size in both white and black

- 2 x Custom Burnt Chef branded 150 page leather recipe notebooks

- 1 x Branded Metal 800ml Drinks Bottle 

- 4 x Branded Markie pens

- 1 x Branded Wristband

- 1 x 'Recipes for Mental Health' e-book featuring over 25 of the UK's best chefs

Thank you

This project closed unsuccessfully on 26th July 2020