Marriott hotels and Soho House sign mental health pledge

Soho House and six Marriott hotels have signed the Time to Change employer pledge to address the stigma around mental health in the workplace.

"We want everyone to feel able to be themselves at Soho House, and that includes being able to talk about any mental health issues they may be going through," said Soho House diversity and inclusion manager Emma Perfect.

White City House hosted the launch of Pilot Light last month, where UK director Tom Collins signed the pledge on behalf of Soho House.

As part of its commitments, Soho House trained its first mental health first aiders in February and, with Time to Change, has created a detailed action plan which includes: training mental health first aiders in every site/team; events and training around mental health; providing and promoting an Employee Assistance Programme; and introducing the LifeWorks app.

Perfect added: "There are challenges in our industry because we're often working long hours, under pressure and during times when most people are with their friends and families. But fundamentally, our business is about making people happy and we can't do that unless we're looking after our own people.

"Signing up to the pledge doesn't mean we are doing that perfectly but it does mean we are committing to supporting their mental wellbeing."

Six Marriott hotels have so far signed the pledge, including the group's properties in Leeds, Liverpool city centre, Manchester Airport, Preston, York and its Renaissance Manchester city centre hotel.

Time to Change is a campaign affiliated to mental health charity Mind and more than 1,000 businesses in the UK have signed its employer pledge. Pilot Light is a campaign in partnership with Time to Change focusing on the hospitality sector, founded by chefs Andrew Clarke of Brunswick House and Doug Sanham.

The Caterer reported last year only four hospitality operators had signed up to the pledge: Pizza Hut, Greggs and contract caterers SSP and Compass Group.

Photo caption (left to right): Sarah Restall, Time to Change; Tom Collins, Soho House; Doug Sanham, Pilot Light; Andrew Clarke, Pilot Light. Photo credit: Ming Tang Evans.

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