Tackling Isolation through Hospitality

At a Glance

One of our members from the hospitality sector embarked on an alternative sort of Team Challenge. Connect Reading provided the hotel with a ‘menu’ of potential Team Challenge Opportunities, and they chose to help local over 50s tackle the isolation they can often feel in a bustling town.

Even the kitchen sink!

The hotel chose tot work with a local community centre, making the #connection through Connect Reading to ensure a rewarding experience for both their employees and the community. The West Reading Community Centre’s over 50’s Club provided a caring and compassionate environment for local older people struggling with isolation. Visitors spent their lunch at the Centre, with an opportunity to engage in fun and sociable activities and gatherings.

The hotel’s employees joined attendees of the Community Centre for an afternoon of tea, biscuits and bingo. The team chatted with visitors before presenting an industrial-sized fish pie for lunch! It was such a large pie that there were memorably amusing difficulties fitting it into the Community Centre’s oven! After lunch, games were played and the bingo began in earnest. Competition was fierce, with participants keen to win the prize of a meal for four( kindly donated by the hotel).

The impact

• Local older residents experiencing isolation met new people and were fed delicious food!
• Employees of the hotel met local residents, broadening their horizons and embedding them in the local community
• The Community Centre saved money through the food donations
• 4 lucky local people were able to celebrate in style at the hotel’s restaurant, a rare treat in stark contrast to the isolation they had felt