Hotel School, London | An inspiring new hotel school has been created thanks to a collaboration between a homeless charity and the hospitality industry: the Goring Hotel and the Passage Homeless Resource Centre in London’s Belgravia. A philanthropic collaboration which aims to support vulnerable and homeless people to work in hospitality and guides them in doing so through a dynamic programme designed by education expert Geoff Booth.
Hotel School partnered with London’s largest homeless charities including St Mungo’s and Centrepoint, as well as with major hotels such as the Ritz and Park Plaza groups to help change the face of hospitality. From retail to restaurants, on average three-quarters of students go on to find sustained long-term employment once the 12-week course has finished — not to mention the Hotel School family they become part of for the rest of their lives. Little wonder, the places were oversubscribed by 300%.
“‘Hotels and restaurants are packed with witty, entertaining, and genuinely interesting people, so when we designed this programme we called around to see who might but their hand up to come and volunteer. Everybody we called, whether a Michelin-starred chef, hipster barista, hotel managing director or a master cocktail mixologist, they said ‘yes’ without any hesitation. The support we’ve had has been amazing and proves how lucky we are to work in this great industry.’ — Jeremy Goring, co-founder of Hotel School and Chief Executive and Managing Director at The Goring Hotel ”
Mick Clarke, the Passage CEO and co-founder of Hotel School, says: 'The Passage gives homeless people the resources and opportunities to fulfil their abilities and to transform their lives. Hotel School gives homeless people the opportunity to access real employment in one of the most exciting and rewarding sectors to work in; we are proud to be a co-founder of it.'