Publicans urged to fund charity’s flask campaign
The charity acts as a conduit between hospitality employers and the homeless, ex-offenders and ex-service personnel.
It has asked the licensed trade to help raise enough money for it to supply every person sleeping rough in the country’s major cities with a flask.
Some 8,000 flasks hope to be distributed at the beginning of July, when dehydration is common.
In order to do this, the charity needs to raise £40,000 for the Fill A Flask campaign in the coming weeks.
OAPA chief executive and founder Greg Mangham said: “The hospitality industry employs approximately 3.2m people directly and 2.8m indirectly.
“To achieve our target, we will need in the region of 1.1% of our directly employed colleagues working in the hospitality industry across the country to donate a minimum of £1 towards funding the campaign. In my mind, that should definitely be achievable.
“If companies want to get involved and donate a significant amount, we can include their logo on the flask and promote their involvement in the initiative.”
Getting the message out
It is hoped that branding on the flasks would raise awareness of the charity – which offers beneficiaries full hospitality training and a 12-month support package.
Mangham added: “As well as providing support for vulnerable people on the street, a key objective of this initiative is to raise awareness of Only A Pavement Away, so we can get the message across about how we can help the homeless find employment in the hospitality industry.
“In doing that, we hope to encourage the public to donate to the charity, which will help us get more people into employment in the long term.”
Some 4,751 people are estimated to be sleeping rough each night, according to figures from the national charity for single homeless people. Homeless charity Crisis also reported a 15% increase on the figure from 2016-2017.
Companies who would like to get involved or financially support the charity through charitable donations can register on the charity’s website.
