Supporting one of the UK’s largest employment sectors, the Licensed Trade Charity has teamed up with CiC Wellbeing to modernise and expand its emotional and practical support for hospitality workers—bringing innovation, empathy and expertise to the heart of the licensed trade.
For more than two hundred years, the Licensed Trade Charity (LTC) has been supporting hard working members of the pub, bar and brewery trade. Yet far from traditional in its approach, the drive to expand its reach and provide modern-day services attuned to the challenges faced by today’s estimated 3.2 million hospitality workers, led them in early 2024 in search of a very specific partner.
“We wanted to expand, to help more people, and become the voice of authority for wellbeing within the licensed hospitality sector,” explains Jola Strong, LTC’s Head of Charity Services. “We needed a partner to help us realise those ambitions, who would align with our values, and have the right chemistry, the right vibe, with enthusiasm for what we want to achieve.”
“We also wanted a partner who offered new products, innovation and a positive attitude to try fresh approaches as we continue on our modernisation journey,” adds Joby Mortimer, Director of Charity Operations.
The LTC provides wellbeing, financial and practical support to individuals and their families, who currently or previously worked in the licensed hospitality trade. Working closely with large employers, trade associations, independents, and a wide range of partners, it provides free wellbeing and emotional support, and information on a wide range of topics including housing, budgeting, debt management, and legal advice. It also runs three independent schools and offers bursaries and grants for those in need, carefully assessed by Jola’s team.
Supporting one of the country’s largest employment sectors, the charity is called upon by thousands of people across the UK each year – and demand is growing:
“Many of the issues people face are generic, like coping with the cost of living, while others are specific to the licensed trade, especially when it comes to mental health,” continues Jola, who oversees applications for support from the charity, partners’ services, and volunteer assessors.
“Someone in our line of work can run their own business, be an employer working alongside their employees, and live above the pub they run. It’s their home, their job, their social circle. If that fails for whatever reason, they are not only left without a job, they’re left with nothing, in a reality they’re not familiar with.
“On the back of Covid, awareness of our charity increased significantly and we were handling a higher volume of calls. We needed to adapt and respond to the feedback we were receiving, namely to offer life chat, callbacks, managed referrals and to have qualified call handlers ready to take our incoming calls in a timely manner.”
A visit to the EAPA (Employee Assistance Professionals Association) website soon prompted a competitive invitation to tender for leading workforce wellbeing provider, CiC Wellbeing.
CiC’s approach is grounded in building sustained relationships and understanding every organisation is different. It was an approach immediately visible to Jola:
“We are such an unusual client for an EAP provider. We don’t employ the people we help; we’re a charity. CiC showed a genuine interest in learning a lot about our organisation before putting its bid together. Rather than dry email communication coming back and forth, I had a call from CiC asking me questions, wanting to learn more about the charity. You could tell their bid wasn’t a cut and paste off-the-shelf attempt to win our business.
“When we reached a shortlist of three, we set up ‘chemistry’ meetings. Ours is a sociable trade and we wanted to get a feel for the people we’d be working with. That visit to CiC in London sealed the deal for us. Even in those early stages, the knowledge of LTC and the enthusiasm to work with us was impressive.
“That initial interest in our company could have easily disappeared, but it hasn’t. From the very start, our main point of contact, Bianca, was on the case. She is brilliant.”
Joby agrees: “We have built a close working relationship; CiC feels part of our team, as we do theirs. This has enabled us to start testing boundaries and enhance services for the people we support.”
While communication rides high on the list of priorities for LTC, so too does innovation and breadth of support.
“CiC is strongly positioned in the variety of different services it offers,” Jola adds. “We are growing and CiC is very much on board with that.
“We were keen to enhance our digital support and make it easier for people to come to us. Among other things, CiC staffs our helpline and live chat function, and helped us set up a referral mechanism to allow employers, friends and family to request help for someone reticent to ask for it themselves.
“The majority of our enquiries go through CiC, they are our first port of call, our shop window. Since we began working together in October 2024, we’ve been overwhelmed by the volume of positive feedback from people coming through to us from CiC colleagues.”
CiC services include:
“What made this partnership so successful is that CiC really took interest in our unique set up. They took time to learn about all the services we offer, even those they’re not directly involved in,” concludes Jola.
“I would 100% recommend CiC to other charities if they’re looking for a proactive partner that aligns with their values and is keen to assist.”
We’ll drink to that!