Could a new London-based hospitality academy signal the future of employability for rough sleepers?
International news
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 will be 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.