The Bulletin can be found at:

http://www.oneandall.org.uk/content/bulletin/reflections-on-international-womens-day/

Video of Angela Hartnett, Jillian Maclean and Carrie Wicks discussing women in hospitality

Big Hospitality have an interesting video discussion on women in hospitality which can be accessed at:

http://www.bighospitality.co.uk/Sectors/Pubs-Bars/VIDEO-International-Women-s-Day-Angela-Hartnett-Jillian-Maclean-and-Carrie-Wicks-discuss-women-in-hospitality

Women 1st announce that nominations are open for the 2012 Shine Awards

The Shine Awards celebrating female achievement across the hospitality, passenger transport, travel and tourism industries are now open for nomination. Sharon Glancy, the founder of Women 1st, comments:

“The importance of recognising and celebrating female talent and influence is more important now than ever before. The Women 1st Shine Awards present a fantastic opportunity to highlight the vital role that women play in our sector, as well as the unique approach and skills that they bring to the table.

“For the first time ever, we are also opening the awards to women working in the passenger transport industry – allowing us to shine a light on inspirational women right across the UK’s visitor footprint.”

Information on the Awards, including how to nominate, can be found at:

http://www.people1st.co.uk/business-and-training-support/women-1st/women-1st-shine-awards-2012

Women in Travel mentoring programme

Women 1st and the Association of Women Travel Executives (AWTE) are launching a mentoring programme on Tuesday 13th March dedicated to helping women working in travel and tourism.

Simone Roche, director of diversity at Women 1st, commented:

“Women 1st and the AWTE share a common ethos in that we are both committed to driving diversity in this vibrant industry and helping women realise their career ambitions.

“Effective mentoring can make all the difference – so if you are an ambitious manager and want to enhance your career, or an employer keen to help your female staff climb the career ladder – join us to shape the travel industry of tomorrow.”

For further information on the programme and the launch see:
http://www.awte.org.uk/content/events.html

Women on Boards

Progress has been made in encouraging diversity on FTSE 100 boards with about 100 new female appointees in the last year increasing the number of women on their boards from 12% to 15%. Sir Roger Carr, President of the CBI, comments in the Daily Telegraph today:

“From my own experience, a mixed gender board is simply a better place to be – better atmospherics, improved dynamics – more representative of employees, customers or shareholders. It’s just a lot healthier.

“The active involvement of head hunters has already started to make a difference. Long lists of women are more readily available than ever before. Not just the superstars of today, but also the less-known and equally talented stars of tomorrow. And there is more encouragement for women than ever before. Networking organisations, like the 30% Club and the Professional Boards Forum, are increasingly visible, providing valuable guidance and support.

“But perhaps, most importantly, we’ve seen businesses commit to taking a long, hard look at the way they recruit, mentor and succession plan to remove blockages in the pipeline of female talent to the board.”

Sir Roger then outlines a four point plan to build on what has already been achieved:

1. Build momentum in the debate by involving head hunters, networking organisations, directors and shareholders in the discussion.
2. Building up the pipeline of women in executive roles through adjusting working practices, eliminating prejudice, maternity returner programmes and networking and mentoring support.
3. Shareholders need to make it clear that board diversity is not an optional extra
4. Board chairman must create the right atmosphere and be supportive and committed to the success of the appointments.

The full article can be found at:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/9129254/Roger-Carr-Four-ways-to-get-more-women-in-boardrooms-and-make-British-business-better.html

Sports stars and their fight with depression

On Wednesday Andrew Flintoff presented a programme, Hidden Side of Sport, on high profile sportsmen and their struggle with depression. It is estimated that 1 in 10 sportsmen has suffered some form of depression.

Flintoff himself admits to being so low at times that he didn’t want to get out of bed and in 2006 broke down in front of his father and apologised for letting him down:

“The 2006-07 Ashes series was my all-time low, both professionally and personally,’ he said. ‘I didn’t want to face people. All I was thinking about when I was on the field was retiring. ‘I don’t think I was ever the same player again after that”

In the programme, Vinnie Jones, the hard man of football, admits to being so down that at one time he took a gun into the woods. Flintoff asked whether he intended to use it and Vinnie said:

“Yes, I just felt that I had let everybody down. You just feel so degraded in yourself. Why do these people have to keep putting up with me?”

Vinnie admits that it was impossible to talk about depression when he was playing:

“If you are bottom of the league, and one of the lads says, “I’ve got depression”, you would smack him round the side of the head, wouldn’t you? and say, “Pull yourself together”. ‘I think it was ignored. I think it would have been taken as weakness.’

In another interview boxer Ricky Hatton remembers his reaction to losing to Manny Pacquiao in 2009:

“The bell rang for the first round and I was overly reckless. He flattened me in two rounds. I came out of the ring and took my mouthguard off and I took my gloves off and I just put a towel over my head, and I remember just sobbing and sobbing.”

“I was devastated. I felt like hanging my head in shame. I just cried and cried and cried”

Unfortunately Hatton turned to drink in order to get through the pain:

“If you are suffering from depression and then you add drink to it, it’s like a runaway train. At the end of the night you are sat in the corner of the pub sobbing”.

Other sportsmen who talk about their problems with depression on the programme include cricketer Steve Harmison, football manager Neil Lennon and snooker world champion Graeme Dott.

In the last year both rugby star Jonny Wilkinson and Test cricketer Marcus Trescothick have talked about their own struggles with depression. In his autobiography Wilkinson writes about getting particularly upset in 2006 when his training doesn’t go according to plan.

“I don’t know what it is, but my frustration is so intense I start shouting at the walls, screaming obscenities. But I punish myself for my mistakes too. When my left foot lets me down, I stamp down hard on it. At one stage, I am so livid that, before I know it, I am sinking my teeth into my hand, trying to bite right through the skin between my thumb and index finger’

Finally Wilkinson talked to the Newcastle doctor Graeme Wilks about his emotions:

“Graeme said what I needed to hear: I had an illness.”

“He explained the illness was controlling everything else and that was far more important to deal with than the injury I had.”

“I was referred to a therapist and he explained the illness was the cause of my depression and my panic attacks — and that it had a cure — he assured me I wasn’t doomed.”

Cricketers seem particularly prone to depression and England Test cricketer Marcus Trescothick has talked about ‘the beast within’.

“It’s not me. It’s somebody totally different who takes over. I think it always just lies dormant until the anxiety rises up. It’s more an anxiety issue I have, rather than a depression. Of course they’re two sides of the same coin but I can flip into anxiety state very quickly – because my brain doesn’t cope well with anxiety. At the same time you learn how to do all the good things so you can say: ‘OK, let’s get back to normal.’

Trescothick stresses how the Professional Cricketers’ Association, and its Benevolent Fund, helped him:

“When I came back from India and needed counselling the direction from the Benevolent Fund was vital. They’ve got a counselling system and the day after I got back I was seeing a counsellor – funded by the PCA and Friends Life.”

Cricket has become more open about mental illness with cricketer Michael Yardy recently returning home from the World Cup in India due to depression.

About the Time to Change campaign

Time to Change is a programme run by the charities Mind and Rethink Mental Illness that tackles mental health stigma and discrimination. It works closely with people with mental health problems to build their confidence and leadership skills to address stigma. Time to Change is funded by the Department of Health and Comic Relief.

 The programme is trying to break the taboo around mental health problems which can prevent people from getting help,making matters worse. As part of this, they will be working with organisations to encourage them to review the way they look after the mental health of their employees, and promote more open discussion about mental health in the workplace.

If you are interesting in getting your organisation involved with Time to Change, and taking the Time to Change pledge, you can find more information on their website at:

http://time-to-change.org.uk/home

The programme Hidden Side of Sport can be watched on BBC iplayer at:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b019gbpk/Freddie_Flintoff_Hidden_Side_of_Sport/

Articles on Hidden Side of Sport, Jonny Wilkinson and Marcus Trescothick

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/cricket/article-2084906/Andrew-Flintoffs-battle-depression.html

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/article-2059132/Jonnys-battle-obsession-despair-Id-self-harm-scream-water.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/rugby_union/3922686/Jonny-Wilkinson-My-brfight-with-depression.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/jun/21/marcus-trescothick-interview

In our latest Bulletin we focus on dyslexics who have found success in the Hospitality industry. In particular we focus on Marco Pierre White and Stephen Mannock, now General Manager of Wivenhoe House Hotel, who both started as chefs partly because more academically orientated careers were closed to them. As Marco Pierre White says:

“I was very fortunate that I entered a world where I didn’t have to read or write. I entered a world of cooking where I expressed with my fingers and so that built my confidence. Over the years I’ve taught myself how to read. I’ve taught myself how to spell.”

The full Bulletin can be found at

http://www.oneandall.org.uk/content/bulletin/300/

Marco Pierre White has remembered his own learning issues in an interview with the Community Channel:

“The teachers knew that I struggled and I could hear the other children laughing so it broke my confidence down. When I left school I was 16 years old. Did I struggle with how to read? Yes I did. Did I struggle with how to spell? Yes I did,”

“I was very fortunate that I entered a world where I didn’t have to read or write. I entered a world of cooking where I expressed with my fingers and so that built my confidence. Over the years I’ve taught myself how to read. I’ve taught myself how to spell.”

Marco didn’t realise that he was dyslexic until his son was diagnosed with it at school:

“They went into great detail about dyslexia and that’s when I was able to label myself as being dyslexic. They could have been talking about the same boy, but many years previous when I was a boy they never spoke of dyslexia.”

“It’s not a stigma to be labelled with dyslexia. Individuals with dyslexia have great talents and great qualities.”

A video of the interview can be found at: http://communitychannel.mediatrust.org/london360/news-details/278/

Other notable people in the Industry who suffer from dyslexia include Peter Lederer, Chairman of Gleneagles and Chair of the One and All Foundation, William Baxter of Baxter Storey and Charles Prew of Barcelo Hotels.

Stephen Mannock, General Manager of Wivenhoe House Hotel, the home of the Edge Hotel School, reminisces in an article for EP Magazine:

“I am dyslexic, but when I was at school many years ago they didn’t recognise it so at junior school it was Mannock you cannot do sport you have to go to remedial English classes, in secondary school you were just put in the bottom set and left to get on with it. Might just explain why I only left with 3 O levels (yes I am that old !) in metal work, technical drawing and physics the latter one was because it was a trial for the 16 plus and you got marks for wire ring a plug and setting up parallel and series circuits so all pretty practical!

When I went to see the careers teacher and said I was thinking about working in hotels having just spent the summer working in one, I admit I originally took the job because the owner’s daughter was hot! But soon I found that I enjoyed working in the restaurant and kitchen. I was told well forget going to the polytechnic you are not clever enough to be a manager you will have to go to the Tec and become a chef!”

Stephen goes on to say about his later career:

I truly believe that some of my success is because I am Dyslexic, my thought pattern is very logical, put me in a crisis and I can see were I am, where I need to get to, to get it sorted and a calm logical route from A to B, ask me to speak to a group of people then great, but don’t ask me to read off a script, don’t ask me the name of some one I met 5 minutes ago but ask me what my regular guest likes and dislike were/are form 20 years ago and I can still tell you, in fact some great skills to have if you are running restaurants or a hotelier!

Although we have focused on success stories within the Hospitality Industry, there are many famous dyslexics including Richard Branson and Henry Ford from the business world, Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison and Michael Faraday in science and Tom Cruise, Orlando Bloom and Kiera Knightly from the entertainment business.

Leaving the final word to Stephen Mannock:

“Does it really matter that we don’t do things the same way or have the usual basic skill set as the majority? Well no it doesn’t but we have the technology to make you all believe we are the same as you, it may just take us a little longer and have to have more discipline in doing what we don’t find natural. But then dyslexics probably invented the technology, build it and made millions selling it to you!”

Further Reading:

Marco Pierre While owes his success to his struggle with reading

http://communitychannel.mediatrust.org/london360/news-details/278/

Stephen Mannock: The challenges of life in the modern world- with dyslexia

http://www.epmagazine.co.uk/social-media-a-fun-quick-accessible-way-of-communicating-or-not/

Nick Sheppardson
It should be noted that the views expressed are a personal opinion

1. Do your serving staff know how to communicate with someone with hearing loss? Simply facing diners and speaking clearly can make the world of difference.  You should train your staff in basic deaf awareness and good communication techniques.We recommend that staff attend a  deaf awareness course.
2. Does your restaurant have lots of background noise such as music playing? Set aside a quiet area where people with hearing loss can sit more comfortably to have a conversation without too much background noise.
3. What’s your lighting like? People with hearing loss often rely on lipreading to help them to communicate with friends at their table, and with serving staff, so good lighting is very important. This does not mean that the whole restaurant needs to be brightly lit, but rather some tables should have the option of having more light when needed.
4. How are your acoustics? Along with background noise, hard furnishings, like wooden floors and chrome surfaces, can create a difficult listening environment for people with hearing loss. Softer materials, including carpets/rugs on floors, tablecloths on tables, and pictures on the wall can help.
5. Is your printed material easy to understand? Make sure your menus and food bills are written in plain English.
6. Do you have a hearing loop at your reception desk? Loop systems can help hearing aid wearers to hear your receptionist’s voice over background noise. Call us on 01733 361 199 for more information on buying a loop system for your business.
7. If you already have loop system at your reception desk, when did you last check that it works? Are staff aware that they have to speak into the microphone? Make sure you have regular processes for checking loops and reporting problems. See our guidance.
8. How can people with hearing loss contact your restaurant to make a booking? Make sure you have an alternative, for example by training your staff in the Text Relay telephone service, offering SMS and email contact.
9. How will people with hearing loss know that there is a fire alarm? Make sure you have clear procedures that all staff know about. If you have equipment to alert people with hearing loss to a fire, make sure that this is well advertised to your guests so they know it’s available.

Luckily there were only a few responses to enquiries along the lines of:

“if he can’t hear he won’t understand us so we can’t do anything”

or in relation to enquiries about evacuation procedures in case of fire:

“The alarm is very loud it wakes everyone up”.

However the research does indicate that there are improvements that could be made by hotels and attractions. The full Bulletin is at:

Bulletin: Are London’s hotels and attractions sufficiently hearing loss aware?

With the Olympics and Paralympics only a few months away it is more important than ever that the Hospitality industry in London has the right service levels and training in place to deal with disabled visitors to the Games.

Campaigners at Action on Hearing Loss have both produced a report following a ‘mystery tourist’ survey by people with hearing loss who visited London attractions, and have carried out mystery telephone surveys on Hotels within the M25 area this year.

Mystery telephone survey of hotels

As this research is unpublished we will just give some of the overall findings as well as mention some of the less helpful responses received by researchers as they phoned around hotels and spoke to reception staff.

Overall Conclusions
Of the 232 hotels contacted within the M25 area:

• 55% (128) said that they had hearing loops at Reception
• Of these 128 hotels 97 said that they knew how to use it
• 78% (178) could offer some subtitles
• 91% (208) said that they had a method for alerting hard of hearing guests in an emergency but with 30 hotels this involved flashing lights which are not appropriate as the guest may be sleeping.
• 59% of Hotels could not offer an alternative method of contacting reception and 12 hotels actually suggested using the emergency disabled pull cord/button.

On the whole the researcher’s requests were dealt with professionally and they only got the occasional response like these replies:

“but how can they come and stay with us if no-one is with them, how can we be expected to understand them if they can’t communicate properly” and

“if he can’t hear he won’t understand us so we can’t do anything”

Probably the most concerning part of the research were some less than helpful emergency procedures at hotels when the researchers asked how the Hard of Hearing guest would be notified. One said:

“obviously if there is an alarm then everyone vacates, then when we know its safe we can check the rooms but we can’t help him otherwise”

Whilst another reassured the researcher:

“The alarm is very loud it wakes everyone up”.

15 hotels could offer no alternative to the fire alarm going off whilst others offered to phone the room which is rather self defeating if the guest cannot hear the fire alarm. Other hotels said that a member of staff would visit the room in an emergency but it was not always clear that staff had been adequately trained in these procedures.

For instance at one hotel the receptionist was unaware of the evacuation procedure, so the researcher was put through to the manager, who said it was the reception staff who would collect guests with hearing loss in an emergency.

Tourist Attraction Survey

In June 2011 hearing loss volunteers carried out a mystery tourist survey of 20 top London attractions in order to see how prepared London was for serving hard of hearing customers in 2012. In general they found staff helpful but encountered practical barriers. For instance:

• Of 13 ticket offices 6 didn’t have electronic display of price.
• Lighting was good in 18 venues
• The volunteers need face to face contact with receptionists in order to lip read and this was satisfactory in 16 of 20 locations
• In 9 locations background noise was an issue
• Volunteers thought that staff were “deaf aware” in only 6 out of 20 locations
• 11 locations advertised having loops but only 7 had them and in only 3 cases were they satisfactory.
• 11 volunteers went on guided tours and only 2 were offered equipment, 7 of the others became tired and frustrated with the tours, as they had to rely on lipreading. Therefore only 4 out of 11 in total thought that their guided tour was fully accessible to people with hearing loss.

Overall the volunteers felt that they were at a disadvantage compared to someone without hearing loss at 18 of the 20 attractions.

Action on Hearing Loss campaigner Johanna Taylor said:

“While staff were overall welcoming and tried to help, they often weren’t sure about provision for people with hearing loss.

However since sharing the results with tourist attractions we have had an incredible response and many attractions are now working closely with us to improve their provision”.

London attractions that have already taken action include:

• London Eye has installed new loops at 7 customer facing points
• London Aquarium is installing new loops
• Tate Modern & Tate Britain are installing new loops and reviewing staff training.
• National Gallery is looking at making their existing tour guide equipment compatible for hearing aid wearers.

If you are a Hotel or Attraction seeking further advice on this subject please contact Johanna.Taylor@hearingloss.org.uk

In addition further information can be found at www.actiononhearingloss.org.uk/accessible

At a reception at the House of Commons hosted by Paul Maynard MP and attended by Norman Baker, the Under Secretary of State for Transport, the Railcard’s birthday was celebrated by remembering how far things had come in those 30 years. Sir Bert Massie CBE spoke about the problems that wheelchair users experienced in travelling by rail in the 1970′s, with journeys sometimes being restricted to travelling in the guard’s van and Michael Roberts, Chief Executive of the Association of Train Operating Companies, stressed the importance they attached to disabled travel.

In his concluding remarks, Paul Maynard gave an example of how far attitudes had changed over the last 30 years. At Waterloo station this morning he along with other commuters were held up at the barriers. It turned out that this was to allow the station attendants to disembark a disabled passenger from the train before letting other passengers through. The obvious point is that in previous times the disabled passenger would have had to wait for everyone else to depart before being disembarked.

“how many black managers are there in the Premier League? Zero.

“And in the top four divisions? There are just two, despite the fact a quarter of all players are black.

“If you are a white player you have a one in fifty chance of moving into management. If you are a black player? One in five hundred.”

and on representation at top universities:

“why are there over 400 more young black British men in prison than at Russell Group universities?”