One of the most common questions we're asked here at The Burnt Chef Project is 'How can I get involved?'.
There's many ways you can help to support us and our ongoing work, so here's a starter for ten for you.
1. PURCHASING FROM OUR SHOP
We've got a fantastic range of premium clothing, cookware and accessories available via our online shop. All profits made go directly back to funding our ongoing work and free training and support services. https://www.theburntchefproject.com/shop
2. FUNDRAISING
The world is your oyster when it comes to fundraising, whether it's an skydive, marathon, bake off, head shave, themed menu, pull ups, singalong...it's entirely your call. As long as it's ethical and safe you can be as creative as you like! You can set up a fundraising page or send the raised total directly to us. Be sure to tell us what you're planning so we can share across social and our newsletter. We're so grateful for every penny raised, our 24/7 support service is funded by this type of donations.
3. BECOME AN AMBASSADOR
The Burnt Chef Project Ambassador Scheme seeks to host and develop a community of ambassadors from the worldwide hospitality sector to support the project and share information about its services and support tools.
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* Create the largest community of hospitality ambassadors to support the project's ongoing work of de-stigmatising mental health by sharing personal experiences
* Ensure Ambassadors are fully trained in mental health and upskill in communication skills
* For our Ambassadors to create a support network for others in the industry who may be experiencing difficulty
If you think you'd like to consider a role within our brigade head follow the link https://www.theburntchefproject.com/ambassadorlinks
4. SHARE OUR CONTENT
By sharing our posts and podcasts with your colleagues, friends and family and wider network, we will reach a much wider audience use our handle @theburntchefproject.com and relevant hashtags such as #fuckstigma #theburntchefproject #theburntchefjournal #theburntchefacademy
5. GET TRAINING
We offer a variety of different training options by fully insured instructors so that we can continue to educate hospitality teams in mental health awareness and create healthier workplace environments by tackling the stigma associated with mental illness. To find out more about our training, and how it can support your business, head to https://www.theburntchefproject.com/training
The Burnt Chef Academy from The Burnt Chef Project is an online training and resource centre dedicated to providing both individuals and management teams across the world with a market leading level of knowledge and understanding when it comes to the subject of wellbeing and mental health. It’s an ever evolving resource meaning that new modules will be developed and implemented based on the needs of the industry.
Available online, via Google Play or Apple’s App Store the Burnt Chef Academy contains vital free learning modules to upskill hospitality staff in the following areas:
Mental Health Support Champion
Personal Resilience
Self Awareness
Effective Communication
Managers Mental Health Awareness
There are also additional modules for businesses looking to extend their mental health and wellbeing training to their teams. For details head to - https://www.theburntchefproject.com/burnt-chef-academy
6. VOLUNTEER YOUR TIME / SKILLS / RESOURCES
We're always looking for like minded individuals with time, skills and resources to add value to our team. If you think you've got a particular set of skills that would benefit our community why not drop us a line info@theburntchefproject.com to see how we could collaborate together.
The Burnt Chef Text Support Service are teamed up with the SHOUT service which has resulted in us being able to provide dedicated support for all types of mental health challenges, taking people who are struggling to cope to a place of calm every single day of the week. SHOUT wouldn’t be able to run without its dedicated team of Volunteers, if you feel you might be able to offer your services then they are always looking for more volunteers, please visit: https://giveusashout.org/volunteer-shout/
7. SHARE YOUR EXPERIENCES WITH OUR COMMUNITY
Sharing experiences is vital in our goal to eradicate mental health stigma from hospitality. We need people to be comfortable sharing their experiences to remind others they are not alone. Knowing someone else is or has been through something goes such a long way to feeling supported. Why not write a blog about your own experience with mental health? Get in touch with marketing@theburntchefproject.com for more details.
Have you tuned into our podcast yet? The Burnt Chef Journal is available via your usual streaming service as well as by Podbean. https://theburntchefjournals.podbean.com/
8. FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Our Food For Thought Campaign couldn't be simpler to roll out into your venue. Register your details below and once complete simply add a Food for Thought £1 donation option onto your menu and till systems. Invite your customers to donate £1 to support the work of The Burnt Chef Project in fighting mental health stigma and supporting the industries mental health. At the end of each month just let us know how much has been raised and we will send a donation invoice to the accounts team. Alternatively make a donation through our donations page. It couldn't be easier and your customers donations will directly fund our ongoing work as well as raise more awareness.
9. SHOUT ABOUT SUCCESS
We're often told how the industry isn't changing, how nothing will ever change. We need to change the rhetoric to showcase the brilliant leaders who are actively implementing change within their businesses in order to highlight now things really are starting to take a steer in a new direction. this might be fundraising, how you're implementing mental health training within your team, how you've changed your rota system, the benefits to your team and business after making changes. Let's shout about these success stories to inspire the wider industry.
10. PRACTICE WHAT YOU PREACH
Aim for best practice in your own establishment, you might not be able to implement all of these straight away, but it's somewhere to head in the right direction. We're here to support you all the way, so just shout if you need advice or pointing in the right direction.
Regular break times away from the working environment for at least 20 minutes every 6 hours (or two 10 minute breaks) (ACAS)
Provide at least 11 hours’ uninterrupted rest between finishing work and starting work the next day (ACAS)
Aim for 2 consecutive days off each week
A zero tolerance towards mental health stigma
Comply with legal obligations including making reasonable adjustments
Develop a mental health strategy to change attitudes
Ensure senior management champion awareness and fight stigma
Tackle work-related causes of mental ill health
Train staff by taking part in mental health training as 'Burnt Chef Ambassadors'
Creation and implementation of a mental health policy
Regular social events that do not involve alcohol or drugs such as shared meal times, out-of-work activities
Continue to talk mental health with 1:1 meetings, awareness days / weeks, team meetings and noticeboards / newsletters
There you have it, our starter for ten for supporting The Burnt Chef Project. Hopefully this gives you some good insight to the options available to you and sparks some creative thinking to how you might support us and the future of hospitality.
So, how are you going to get involved?