Mental Health UK partners with Pizza Hut Restaurants

Pizza Hut Restaurants and their staff will work with us as their new partner, raising funds in their 270 restaurants in England, Scotland, and Wales. We are working with our sister charities Support In Mind Scotland and Hafal (Wales) to raise funds together as a network of national charities, Mental Health UK.

Mental Health UK is a network of national charities working across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland to improve the lives of people with mental illness, and to support carers. Together our members Rethink Mental Illness, Hafal, Support In Mind Scotland, MindWise have worked for over 40 years to provide services, information, and advice to support anyone affected by mental illness.

Gareth Hopley, Head of PR and Communications at Pizza Hut Restaurants, says:

“When partnering with a charity, we felt it’s really important that our values and philosophies align. We are very much a ‘front to back’ company – we know that our people are what drive our business, and we have worked hard to craft an environment in which to feel happy and supported. We felt that the Mental Health UK group of charities fitted really well – they are totally focused on the wellbeing of every person they work with.

By supporting the Mental Health UK charities, we’re supporting our customers, our people and our values. The hospitality industry is the fourth largest employer in the UK, and at Pizza Hut Restaurants it is our belief that ‘you’ll never make your customers feel better than you make your people feel’. We focused our culture on being the ‘Best of Me’ and the ‘Best of Us’, and we have worked hard to balance high skills training with behavioural and emotional development. With this in mind, we are keen for our people to feel more comfortable and have the confidence to talk about their difficulties without fear of judgement. It’s our duty to raise awareness of issues around mental health and help break the taboo!

Our ‘Charity Champions’ within the restaurants will act as pillars in their communities, raising awareness with their customers and leading fundraising activities for the Mental Health UK charities with energy and passion. Alongside this we’ll be launching an internal wellness programme, providing access to a helpline, offering practical and emotional support 24 hours a day.”

Emma Malcolm, Associate Director of Fundraising and Supporter Engagement at Rethink Mental Illness, says “We’re really excited to have the chance to work with Pizza Hut Restaurants, not just to raise funds in their restaurants, but also to support their wellness work and increase understanding of mental health issues in the workplace. Pizza Hut Restaurants will help us make a stronger impact in this area, which is hugely important, as each year one in four of us in the UK experience a mental health issue. Together with our sister charities in the Mental Health UK network, Hafal and Support In Mind Scotland, I know we’re really keen to reach as many people as we can to raise funds and awareness of mental health issues, and working with Pizza Hut Restaurants will be a great way to achieve this.”

For more information on the Mental Health UK charities, see www.mentalhealth-uk.org. To find your nearest Pizza Hut restaurant, see https://www.pizzahut.co.uk/restaurants/