The Burnt Chef Project helping sector via texts

The Burnt Chef Project, a not-for-profit social enterprise founded by Kris Hall to challenge mental health stigma within hospitality, has seen high numbers of people using its new Burnt Chef Support Service.

After raising £3,000, the Burnt Chef Support Service launched on 1 February as a free, 24/7 text-based service dedicated to any individual within the hospitality community needing support for their mental health.

“It has been a tough year for our industry and it is likely to have long term impacts to those that work within it," says Hall. "The Burnt Chef Support Service was introduced to tackle the rising problems associated with mental health issues, so that we can provide much needed supported to those who may not have known where to turn whilst we continue to work diligently to inform, educate and improve overall awareness relating to the subject of mental health."

To use this service, hospitality workers should text: BURNTCHEF to 85258 24/7 for free, and a trained volunteer will aim to respond within five minutes.

One message of support on Instagram @theburntchefproject read “I’m going through a tough time currently and I used this on Tuesday, it was a massive help to take a load off for a while and talk to someone who could help.”

The Burnt Chef Project will continue promoting this service via social media, training sessions and to the catering colleges that are trained on a weekly basis.

In addition, it will continue to provide updates on it’s usage to enable the industry to better understand the scale of the mental health epidemic and work directly with individuals and businesses to tackle the problem.

The Burnt Chef Support Service launched in partnership with Mental Health Innovations.