Saira Hospitality, a non-profit transforming the way hotels connect with local communities through education, and The Hotels with Heart Foundation are partnering to offer hospitality training for 20 rough sleepers whilst they are being temporarily housed inside St Giles Hotel in Bloomsbury, London.
The innovative partnership centres around a four-week hospitality school inside St Giles Hotel, who launched The Hotels with Heart Foundation in 2023 to give back to the communities sustaining the hotels.
Between 8th April and 3rd May, 20 candidates are being trained on-site, enrolling in Saira Hospitality’s life-skills-focused curriculum that teaches communication, leadership, emotional intelligence and other essential hospitality-focused life skills.
New research from the homeless charity Shelter shows at least 271,000 people are recorded as homeless in England, including 123,000 children. This figure means one in 208 people in England are without a home, and 2,400 people are sleeping rough on any given night.
The Academy marks another step forward for Saira Hospitality, who migrated their pop-up hospitality school concept to London in 2022 following seven years of operating in global destinations such as Namibia, Mexico, The BVI and the US. It also marks the first time that Saira has partnered directly with another non-profit organisation in the UK. Hotels with Heart are sponsoring the entire cost of the programme via funds generated from their Regenerative Hospitality Campaign, which pledges to raise £1 million benefiting local communities.
The initiative combines classroom-based learning with experiential work placements inside a group of leading hospitality employers in London, who have pledged to support the initiative with workplace mentoring and guaranteed job interviews for candidates after the programme ends. These businesses include Z hotels, Marriott, and Accor. The programme also blends hospitality integration opportunities for its learners, many of whom have never stepped inside London’s leading hospitality businesses. These integration experiences include a private dining experience hosted by Kerth Gumbs inside his restaurant Fenchurch at Skygarden. Students will also take a walking tour of Saira Hospitality’s London hotel partners, visiting various properties and experiencing different styles of guest service.
Saira Hospitality’s partnership with Vizzy, an online CV-alternative platform, also helps learners illustrate their personalities and experiences outside of the traditional CV format. Saira Hospitality believe that the traditional CV format can be disheartening for candidates from overlooked backgrounds, who may lack typical experience or access to education.
“When reading the list of partners who are supporting this initiative, it’s impossible to not be inspired by the generosity on show. From individual hospitality legends like Kerth Gumbs, to multinational hotel brands and of course St Giles Hotels, without whom this programme wouldn’t be possible. We believe the greatest atrocities must be met with creative partnerships, and we’re proud to be launching this programme, an initiative that we hope will be repeated in years to come,” says Greg Früchtenicht, COO at Saira Hospitality.