wellbeing is more than a word.

Wellbeing. We've heard that word so often I wonder whether we’ve lost sight of what it means. 

Wellbeing is constantly talked about. In influencer posts, product ads, and employer brand strategies.  

It’s almost as though wellbeing is something we should buy or be given. But surely, it should be a baseline constant, so that when life is challenging, we can more easily cope. 

In hospitality workplaces, where environments can often be hectic and pressured, a focus on everyday wellbeing should remain a fundamental basic. Not least because hospitality stands on the actions of its people. 

No matter how much the industry changes, the thing that matters most is the people. Hospitality is nothing without them. And those people turn up at work with their whole life alongside them.  

Unpaid bills. Relationship challenges. Parents that need care. Health concerns. Anxiety, depression. Substance abuse.  

Along with the smiles, verve and brilliance of hospitality people come the complex and sometimes messy parts that make us human. And we carry those things with us, every day. 

That's the bit we can forget about wellbeing. It's an everyday, whole person thing.  

If we're serious about the wellbeing of hospitality people, then it's not about offering free yoga classes, or being ‘understanding’ in a crisis. It's about creating cultures that treat wellness as an everyday expectation. 

hospitality action: impact in numbers 

I'm a Patron of Hospitality Action, and it matters to me deeply. Their latest Impact Report clearly shows the impact they make, and the figures are striking: 

Since 2020, Hospitality Action has: 

• Awarded more than £5 million in grants to hospitality workers facing hardship 

• Provided over 15,000 grants to hospitality households 

• Answered more than 38,000 calls through their helpline 

• Delivered over 11,000 counselling sessions 

• Supported more than 200,000 employees and their families through their Employee Assistance Programme 

• Connected with over 2,000 retired hospitality professionals through their Golden Friends befriending service 

These aren't abstract numbers. Each data point represents a real person in hospitality; someone who needed help and found it through Hospitality Action. 

The work they do is practical. It's every day and ongoing. And importantly, it's both preventative and reactive.Hospitality Action aren't just there for when people hit crisis (through their Helpline and grants, for example), they also help support everyday wellbeing through their excellent EAP, their work unlocking unclaimed benefits, and through their Golden Friends initiative. 

They're there to keep people steady, and they're also there for when things go wrong. 

For me, that's what wellbeing should look like. An ongoing focus on the whole person, and maintaining wellbeing over time, alongside action in a crisis. 

That's exactly why I created Walk for Wellbeing (now a flagship Hospitality Action event) and why mum continues to power the UK event and hosts the London walk (taking place Sunday 25th October - there are multiple walks across the UK).  

This is an event that shines a light on wellbeing and supports it, through the very nature of the event and by raising funds for Hospitality Action.  

Walking alongside colleagues, friends, family and fellow hospitality people is a powerful reminder that none of us are alone. It's community in action. It's conversation. It's movement and a  shifting of the dial in every sense. 

And it reminds us that wellbeing is an everyday, whole person thing. 

You can sign up to take part in Walk for Wellbeing here.  I hope to see you there! 

Read Hospitality Action’s Impact Report 2025 here.