Australian Venue Co. has extended its in-house support for staff, furthering the ‘Meals for Hospo Mates’ program as Melbourne venues shut their doors for the second time this year.
The latest Stage 3 and 4 lockdowns have put Victoria under a cloud and closed Melbourne pubs, perpetuating financial hardship for many businesses and employees.
The Meals for Hospo Mates initiative was initially rolled out across AVC’s pubs around Australia during the first lockdown, run out of the Hawthorn Hotel in Melbourne.
Around 20 people are involved, working on JobKeeper hours. Each week a posse of chefs develop a menu, which is on offer to impacted AVC team members, friends and family.
The offering consists of a pack of six meals each week, prepared by venue staff and chefs. This week they dished up their 10,000th free meal.
AVC report the initiative keeps staff engaged and chefs in the kitchen. The further increased focus on health and safety during the second lockdown means the team now deliver all meals directly to those in need.
“This has been a challenging second blow to the Melbourne hospo industry,” says Hawthorn Hotel venue manager Grant Vink.
“There are some people within our AVC family who need a helping hand over this time and it’s comforting to know we can support them by providing a delicious, warm meal cooked by our amazing chefs.
“It is rewarding for us at the Hawthorn Hotel and Australian Venue Co. to be able to provide these meals. I am so proud of the work being done by the whole team.”
Meals for Hospo Mates will continue while Melbourne is in lockdown, for at least six weeks.
Beyond and in addition to this program, AVC also created a $100k+ financial hardship package helping visa workers not entitled to Government assistance.
