Hospitality and health

By Clinton Cawood

Published: 28 January, 2019

As Healthy Hospo marks its first anniversary, the movement for a healthier on-trade continues to grow apace.

Officially launched towards the end of 2017, industry wellness platform Healthy Hospo held its first all-day Wellness Workshop in January 2018, a day of seminars covering a variety of health-related topics tailored to the industry, as well as practical classes such as yoga and meditation. It included on-trade experts across various fields, from within the industry and further afield.

This year’s Wellness Workshop, held on 21 January, once again brought together an impressive panel of experts. From the trade, speakers included Jim Wrigley, Dan Dove, Claire Smith-Warner and Fabiano Latham, alongside sports sleep coach Nick Littlehales, posture expert Danny Fisher, and more. It featured a No & Low Bar, and incorporated brands such as Reyka, St-Germain, Kamm & Sons to name a few.

Healthy Hospo’s founder, Tim Etherington-Judge, formerly global brand ambassador for Bulleit Whiskey, created the platform following a mental breakdown in 2016. After his recovery, he set out to provide free information and consultancy services in a bid to improve the physical and mental health of those working in hospitality.

“We've had an amazing response since our launch last year. We've had conversations from New Zealand to New York and have seen more and more people begin to take steps to improve their health,” Etherington-Judge told Harpers. “There's still so much to do but we've definitely seen the industry begin to take its first steps in the right direction.”

The London Essence Company’s The Light House activity during London Cocktail Week in 2018 included a collaboration with Healthy Hospo entitled Light Talks. These brought speakers such as Seedlip founder Ben Branson and botanist James Wong together for a series of talks on wellbeing, mindfulness and more.

Healthy Hospo also teamed up with Martini and Digme Fitness last year to mark 50 years of Martini Racing with spin classes and bartender cycle rides. As Etherington-Judge explains, “It provides bartenders a fun, inclusive and community based activity that doesn't involve just drinking in a bar.”

Love Drinks, meanwhile, has teamed up with Healthy Hospo and MiBODY Outdoor Fitness to create Love Well, including fitness training and more, as well as a Wellness Wednesday Workshop that kicks off in early February.

The latest from Etherington-Judge is his 424242Run. At 42 years old, over 42 consecutive days, he’s planning to run 42 marathons, which are, of course, each 42km long. The plan is to raise awareness of mental health within the hospitality industry, while raising money for UK drinks industry charity The Benevolent. His first marathon is planned for Tales of the Cocktail in July, with the tour taking in New York and Amsterdam, before finishing in London at the end of August. The target is to raise £42,000 for The Benevolent.

Ambitious as that plan might be, Healthy Hospo is set to grow this year too. “In 2019 we've got big plans and a lot more coming, to take our mission to build a healthier, happier hospitality industry to more people and offer a bigger support platform.”

Printer friendly version