Viewpoint: giving more help to young people could close the skills gap

The organisation started in 1949 as a sort of afternoon club for young hotel and restaurant workers in London's West End to allow them to relax between shifts and is now one of hospitality's oldest charities.

Since those early days the charity has relocated to other parts of London, offering accommodation to young hospitality workers. Some may remember the PM Club in Earl's Court, which for many years provided halls of residence-style accommodation to both male and female workers. It served as the launch pad for some famous careers, including Jason Atherton, Marcus Wareing and the late Gary Rhodes.

I was once one of those young people who lived at the PM Club when I was working in central London in the late 1980s, and now I find myself chairman of the charity.

Sadly, the PM Club closed in 2002, but the spirit of the charity's founders lives on in the PM Trust. We support young hospitality workers between the ages of 16 and 24 years old. The charity recently introduced two new trustees to strengthen our governance and improve our outreach: Medina Williamson, head of sales at the Lansdowne Club in Mayfair, and Marc Whitley, senior lecturer at Westminster Kingsway College. They work alongside Brian Turner, Gary Hunter, Tim Jones and Holly Addison to further the aims of the PM Trust.

Expectations are different to those faced by hospitality workers 30 years ago, but we have the chance to change a young person's career path with timely financial interventions. Whether this is through buying knives, uniform or books, or supporting course fees, we can help people progress their training and development and ultimately their careers.

Our industry is a people business, both in the ones we serve and the ones providing that service. Hospitality offers an enjoyable, sustainable career and is the epitome of a meritocracy where, providing you have the right training, good mentors and focus, you can be successful.

Chefs cooking fine food and waiters giving excellent service will never be replaced by artificial intelligence and machines and I predict that in the future hospitality will be seen as the last bastion of quality human interaction. Sometimes the missing part of this recipe for success is the funding to get even the basic qualifications in order to succeed. We believe the PM Trust fills that gap. But we need the support of the industry.

We will be organising fundraising events in 2024, so watch this space. If you want to adopt us as your nominated charity for 2024, we would of course be delighted and we can come and speak about what we do at your company event and also bring one or two hospitality students who can tell you their story.

We are also seeking great venues for one-off events, so if you can offer a space for a reception or dinner, please contact us at thepmtrust@gmail.com

Thanks for your support.

Ruston Toms is the founding director of Blue Apple Catering and chairman of the PM Trust

www.thepmtrust.org