In 2025, Hospitality Action reached more people than ever and delivered over £1.5 million in financial impact for hospitality households – the highest figure in its history. Behind that, are thousands of individual stories: rent paid to keep families in their homes, retired colleagues able to heat their homes in winter, and counselling that helped people step back from the brink.
Our Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) sits alongside everything else Hospitality Action delivers. It is a vital strand in a wider safety net – one that fundraising, partnerships and individual giving help to weave for the industry, by the industry.
Understaffing, rising costs, guest expectations and ongoing mental health challenges continue to test hospitality teams. Against that backdrop, it can be tempting to see wellbeing support as a “nice to have” rather than a core part of running a resilient business.
The 2025 impact results below suggest otherwise. An industry‑specific EAP is not just a product; it is a way to share the emotional load and join a community that looks after its own. When an employee calls at midnight or a manager needs support, they speak to someone who understands hospitality. When a family needs a grant or a retired colleague needs a friendly voice, Hospitality Action is the same safety net catching them.
With no government funding, every grant and every call answered is made possible by the hospitality community. In 2025, that collective support meant:
Alongside events, corporate fundraising and individual donations, over 500 businesses were subscribed to the EAP, helping Hospitality Action meet rising needs across the sector.
The EAP gives hospitality people somewhere to turn when life gets heavy – whether that’s a late night call, a block of counselling sessions, or practical advice about money, housing or family pressures.
In 2025, the programme:
Available 24/7 and built around unsocial hours, double shifts and the emotional labour of hospitality – our EAP helps ensure nobody has to carry their worries alone. A new Virtual GP and Advanced Nurse Practitioner service also gave employees faster access to primary healthcare, catching issues earlier and reducing the risk of long term absence or crisis.
What sets Hospitality Action’s EAP apart is the insight behind it. The same organisation that runs the EAP also sees, through grants, advice and helpline calls, what is really driving hardship in the sector: high workloads, poor work–life balance, financial strain and widespread mental health challenges.
Findings from our annual Taking the Temperature survey, combined with day‑to‑day casework, help shape how the EAP is delivered. Support, resources and specialist partners are tailored to hospitality’s specific pressures, creating a programme that feels warm, human and non‑judgemental – not like a generic corporate bolt‑on.
Many employers first meet Hospitality Action at a moment of crisis: a team member at risk of eviction, a bereavement, or a retired colleague struggling with isolation. That emergency support remains core. The EAP builds on it by intervening earlier.
Confidential counselling, 24/7 helplines, benefits and debt advice, and Virtual GP access all help tackle issues while they are still “wobbles”, not full‑blown crises. Internal data shows that most employees referred to counselling report better work performance and attendance afterwards. The same support that helps a chef manage anxiety or a manager deal with money worries also helps employers reduce absenteeism, turnover and the hidden cost of presenteeism.
Every business that signs up to the EAP does two things at once. It gives its own teams access to 24/7 helplines, counselling, practical advice and primary healthcare designed around hospitality life – and it helps sustain grants, advice, crisis interventions and later‑life support for colleagues across the UK.
The EAP sits alongside events, partnerships, individual giving and initiatives like Invisible Chips as part of a circular model of support that lets Hospitality Action say “yes” more often when people need help. For businesses, that creates a strong ESG and CSR story: choosing the EAP is both a smart investment in employee wellbeing and a tangible way to support the wider hospitality community.
For leaders, the real question is not ‘Can we afford to do this?’ but ‘Can we afford for our people not to have this kind of support?’
