A Sandhurst woman has vowed to break through the stigma of mental health after learning the staggering number that suffer within the hospitality industry.

After working in hospitality since the age of 16, Lydia Staniforth has become an ambassador for The Burnt Chef Project, a charity that provides support services to hospitality workers in need of help.

To show her support for the charity and what they do, she was motivated to complete a fundraiser with an aim to raise a total of £300 to help with the charities Mental Health Awareness Champion Day and other resources.

Lydia explains: “I chose 80km in 10 days because there is a statistic that says at least 8 out of ten hospitality workers have experienced mental health issues at least once in their career.

“Having worked in hospitality all my life I’ve seen first-hand how the nature of the industry is, such as the long working hours and the pressure of the job.

“The stresses and the strains have always been there in hospitality but what the burnt chef project does is it breaks the stigma and start having these conversations about what can we now do to make a difference and insure that out people are not impacted.”

The last couple of years for the hospitality industry has shown that life can be dis-heartening in the industry which is one of the reasons why Lydia started to get involved with the charity.

She said: “This fundraiser is linked to my ambassador role for the company and our first task was to raise money for all the resources that they provide to hospitality workers.

“Raising this money was the starting point to make a difference and spread the word about the company.

“In my work in employee branding and recruiting marketing I have links with hiring managers and boots on the ground to spread the word about the work that the charity does.”

Their work includes training programmes that anyone can access, resources for managers, waiting staff, chefs can also use for personal techniques that they can use to prevent mental health issues from becoming worse through their work.

Lydia said: “I feel that we have come a long way in terms of breaking that stigma from when I started in hospitality at 16.

“Things are being done more to check in with workers and through the project they always encourage those check-ins and other resources that they cans share to help break that stigma.

“We’re definitely on track. Even the wider conversation beyond hospitality I feel like we have made progress, even in the last 5 years but there is always room to grow.”

Staniforth completed her challenge on March 29, completing 100.3km in 10 days.

She explained on her Go Fund Me page: “It feels amazing to exceed the 80km mark.

“In more good news, I reached my £300 goal because of your kind generosity.

“Sending big thanks to each and every one of you for donating - you’re helping to break the stigma.”

The Burnt chef project is a UK based charity that was founded by Kris Hall and is looking to expand their reach to America and Canada.