This comes after research from High Speed Training revealed nearly three-quarters (73%) of hospitality staff struggled with their mental health throughout the pandemic.
All calls on the Drink Trust’s free, confidential support line are answered by counsellors and clinically trained psychotherapists who provide callers with in-the-moment support with their problems.
NTIA chief executive Michael Kill said the trade body was “extremely excited” to join the charity in launching the Drink Trust services to the night-time economy. He added: “It is vitally important that we support our people as we start to recover and build back to pre-pandemic business levels.
“We continue to support and assess the true human impact of this crisis, but the most important message is that people understand they are not alone in this.”
Helping those in need
The helpline also offers internal referral to more than 30 online cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) courses, each with different themes. It also includes the option to have up to six specialist 1:1 telephone sessions which cover issues including legal advice, meditation support, career coaching, financial advice, consumer advice and parenting coaching.
The Drinks Trust chief executive Ross Carter said the charity was “very pleased” to have partnered with NTIA to extend its helpline to their members and stakeholders.
“Through this association, we aim to extend the message of our services to even more people who are in need of wellbeing and mental health support and don’t know where to turn to,” according to Carter.
He continued: “Our Restore services are available to anyone in the night-time economy and free of charge and can be accessed either by phone, email or WhatsApp.
“If you feel that you or any member of your staff might benefit from a professional form of support, I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that the Drinks Trust has a professional and reliable support system available for you.”
Mental health is everyone's responsibility
UKH chief executive Kate Nicholls previously told The Morning Advertiser mental health was “everybody’s responsibility”, and customers, colleagues, employers and managers all had a role in looking after each other’s mental health.
“We need to make sure staff and customers are aware there is a zero tolerance of anything that damages people’s mental health and wellbeing, and we should call people out on [bad behaviour]”, Nicholls said.
She added: “Nobody needs to struggle with mental health and wellbeing problems alone.
“We, as an industry, have got our arms around you and we’ll make sure you’re okay.”
The helpline is available on 0800 9154610, by contacting helpline@drinkstrust.org.uk or by sending ‘Hi’ on Whatsapp to 00 353 87 369 0010.
