Blog. Charity-Powered EAP: How Choosing HA Supports Your Team and the Whole Sector
January 19, 2026 | Author Jeremy Gibson
For most employers, an EAP decision starts with one question: “Will this help our people?” With Hospitality Action, there’s a second, equally important answer – “It will help your industry too.”
Every subscription to our Employee Assistance Programme supports the employees in your own venues - and also helps fund grants, crisis support and wider services for hospitality workers across the UK.
A circular model of support
Unlike commercial EAP providers, Hospitality Action is a charity first. That means any surplus from the EAP does not go to shareholders – it is reinvested straight back into services for hospitality people, including financial grants, mental health support and advisory services.
This creates a circular model:
- Your organisation pays a transparent, competitive fee for a gold standard, sector specific EAP.
- Your employees receive 24/7 clinical support, counselling, practical advice and digital wellbeing tools.
- At the same time, your subscription helps to underwrite helplines, grants and crisis services for colleagues across the industry who may never work for you, but face the same pressures.
It’s a wellbeing spend that works twice – once inside your business, and once across the wider hospitality community.
What your EAP fee makes possible
Since 2020, Hospitality Action has provided wraparound support to over 200,000 EAP members each year, spent more than £5 million in grants and answered tens of thousands of helpline calls. Those numbers are only achievable because employers like you choose an EAP that directly feeds the charity’s work.
Through this model, EAP income helps to:
- Fund financial grants when people face sudden hardship, from rent arrears and fuel bills to essential household items.
- Keep 24/7 helplines open so hospitality workers can reach a trained advisor or counsellor whenever they hit crisis point.
- Deliver thousands of counselling sessions and specialist interventions each year.
- Sustain longer‑term programmes like Golden Friends for retired workers and advisory hubs that offer housing, debt and benefits guidance.
When you view your EAP line on the budget, you’re looking not only at support for your own teams - but at a shared fund that keeps colleagues across hospitality on their feet.
One EAP, two kinds of impact
Imagine a bar manager whose partner has lost their job, suddenly carrying the full financial load, facing rising bills and 60 hour weeks. Through Hospitality Action’s EAP, they can talk to a counsellor, get structured support for stress/anxiety, and be signposted to debt and benefits advice to steady the situation. If things worsen, the HA’s charity arm may even be able to help with a hardship grant to keep the household stable.
Now consider the HR lead of a multi site hotel group. They see absence fall and retention improve among teams who use the EAP, and they can point to a clear return on investment through reduced burnout and turnover. On top of that, they know their spend is helping the wider sector by funding the grants and crisis services that keep talent in hospitality - rather than losing it to other industries.
Both stories are powered by the same decision - choosing Hospitality Action’s charity powered EAP, instead of a purely commercial one.
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Why this matters for CSR, ESG and brand reputation
In an environment where boards and investors expect clarity on social impact, our EAP provides a ready‑made CSR and ESG narrative. Every invoice can be linked to:
- Tangible outcomes for your own workforce – from 24/7 clinical support to whole‑health wellbeing resources tailored to hospitality.
- Measurable sector-wide impact – grants awarded, helpline calls answered, counselling sessions delivered and households kept afloat.
This positions your organisation as:
- A responsible employer, offering best‑in‑class support in a demanding sector.
- A committed industry partner, strengthening the resilience of hospitality as a whole, not just your own P&L.
For finance and leadership teams, that means EAP investment can legitimately sit in both the “people” and “community/impact” columns.
Choosing an EAP that does more for hospitality
There are many ways to spend a wellbeing budget. Few deliver the same combination of clinical quality, sector understanding and wider social impact as Hospitality Action. Our EAP already protects over 200,000 hospitality workers, and continues to evolve in response to the evolving pressures the industry faces.
When you choose Hospitality Action, you’re not just buying an employee service – you’re helping to fund the safety net that thousands of hospitality people rely on when life goes off‑script. It’s a way to look after your own team and stand up for the wider sector at the same time.
Talk to our team today to explore how a charity‑powered EAP could work in your business and support the wider hospitality community. Contact the EAP team at eap@hospitalityaction.org.uk or use the enquiry form above.