Get Active for Lockdown 3.0 with The Burnt Chef Project

Raising money for a text based mental health crisis service for hospitality

The Burnt Chef Project a not-for-profit social enterprise launched back in May 2019 to challenge mental health stigma within hospitality has recently launched their Get Active for Lockdown Challenge to encourage those currently facing a sedentary lifestyle as a result of this new lockdown to get up and moving all in aid of raising money for a hospitality specific mental health crisis line.

An epidemic of epic proportions

In 2017, the NHS reported 1 in 4 Britons will likely suffer from mental health issues during their lifetime. It’s a huge, invisible issue in the UK, but it’s even bigger in hospitality.

We carried out a study among 1,300 foodservice professionals and found that this number is closer to 4 out of 5. It has been well documented by the Office for National Statistics that suicide rates have long been on the rise particularly with males between the ages of 18 – 34.

The most recent data on this we have is before we felt the affects of COVID-19 and as a result we are finding through conversation that mental health is being negatively impacted because of this pandemic.

With that in mind The Burnt Chef Project aims to launch a hospitality specific mental health crisis service which is a free text-based service available 24/7 to those who may feel anxious, stressed, depressed, suicidal or overwhelmed and who need immediate support. A front-line response to help fight this epidemic at its worst.

The service will cost approx. £10k per year to run and we are looking for financial support to help us in our mission to raise enough money to cover the first year of this service at a critical time in our industry. With that The Get Active Lockdown Challenge was born. Details of this can be found below:

The Get Active Lockdown Challenge

It keeps us motivated during this time and encourages us to get active. It’s fairly simple – here’s how it works.

Our challenge is to complete a virtual tour around many of the UK’s Michelin restaurants and raise money for a Burnt Chef crisis line.

To complete it, you can run, walk, cycle, row or do any other distance-based exercise.

Starting at the most northern point in Skye at the Loch Bay Restaurant we will travel virtually through the length of the UK finishing at Paul Ainsworth’s No6 Restaurant in Padstow over the course of 8 weeks.

As a team effort we will cover a total of over 2148 miles (3458 km) over 8 weeks.

We’re looking to raise £10,000 to fund and launch a FREE 24/7 text based service specifically for those who may feel anxious, stressed, depressed, suicidal or overwhelmed and who need immediate support.

The benefits of this service will not only provide vital support and save lives but also allow us to track usage data to enable us to better address the mental health epidemic in hospitality.

Every entrance fee will directly contribute to our goal.

Individuals can track our overall progress via the My Virtual Mission app available on Android and Apple. It also can sync with many of the favourite fitness apps so that distances are updated automatically.

We do this as a team. So, whether you add 1km or 100km it all goes towards our total distance target. It’s all about getting out and about and getting moving whilst raising some money for a vital service.

Pre-registration is already open via: www.theburntchefproject.com/getactive