Introducing our 2025 key charities

It takes a village to raise a child – and it takes a collective of businesses to support a city to thrive. Ambassadeurs Group (AG) is one such business, and it is continuing its corporate philanthropic with a focus on London-based activity in 2025. Last month it announced new areas of focus to shape its giving back strategy this year – and now the WorkFamily have voted for key charities under three of these areas.

The chosen charities who will receive the largest share of AG support are:

• Hospitality Action – as the key charity for education and employment with a focus on hospitality
• The Felix Project – as the key charity for support of Londoners in challenging circumstances
• Royal Shakespeare Company (Creative Learning Programme) – as the key charity to support Arts and Culture opportunities and accessibility

The two other areas where charitable giving and corporate philanthropy will be focused are cleaner air, and – as is a core part of business practices – safer gambling research, education and treatment (RET).

‘These three charities were chosen by our WorkFamily because they each resonate for different reasons,’ said Krishna Hathi, Charity Initiatives advisor at AG. ‘For example, Hospitality Action is close to everyone’s heart because of our wider business, which includes Les Ambassadeurs Club and No. 6 Hamilton Place. This focus means we can support our local community across key areas.’

Hospitality Action

Hospitality Action supports anyone who works in hospitality – from concierges and receptionists to sommeliers and chefs. It’s there whether challenges are physical illness or mental health issues, financial difficulty or addiction. Set up in 1937, the charity recognises the industry can be as hard to work in as it can be rewarding.

Since the pandemic in 2020 the sector has faced unprecedented challenges. These include rising costs, supply-chain shortages, closures and even finding staff. Hospitality Action has provided emotional support to more than 200,000 workers over the past five years, through grant giving, advisory services, helplines and its Golden Friends retiree outreach scheme. It has also given financial support over the same period – it has awarded more than 12,500 grants to hospitality households in the UK and issued more than 1,400 winter fuel grants to alleviate extreme fuel poverty on the coldest months.

The Felix Project

AG has supported The Felix Project since 2021 through a combination of donations and staff volunteering. Its mission is to tackle food waste and hunger across London. This is a London-based charity where all the giving back goes directly to people in the capital city. In 2024 it rescued and distributed enough surplus food to provide 38 million meals through its network of 1,264 community organisations and schools. It also expanded beyond food aid with the launch of Felix’s Multibank, which distributed 1.46 million non-food items to Londoners in need. Continued donations from AG this year will aim to provide at least 75,000 meals to people who need them most.

Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC)

The RSC run the UK’s largest creative learning programme, aligning closely with AG’s goal of supporting the development of and access to arts and culture, which is a huge draw for London. The RSC’s creative learning programme supports and works with half a million young people per year through its work with schools in areas of high deprivation, development of curriculum resources. It also provides access for under-represented young people to training and careers in arts and culture through the Next Generation programme. This long-term talent development programme recruits young people from low socio-economic backgrounds to develop their skills and create productions. It gives them support as they make their first steps into this competitive world of work and focuses on acting, directing and backstage work.

Looking to the future

AG is continuing the philanthropic journey it started in 2021. Since then, the Group has raised over £2m for good causes. ‘We know from our volunteering work that our geographical location and working within our community matters to our WorkFamily and customers who love spending time in London, so it made sense that they were able to nominate charities and good causes locally that fit with our goals and are also close to their hearts,’ said Krishna.

The Group – with its origins in Les Ambassadeurs Club (LAC), the leading London casino – will also continue to support safer gambling research, education and treatment. Other charities will continue to be supported through funding or volunteering.

The Group plans to continue expanding its philanthropic efforts, exploring new avenues to engage with its employees, customers, and the wider community. This includes increasing the visibility of charity initiatives. Fundraising will continue to be done through gaming initiatives, fundraising events, customer donations and internal WorkFamily fundraising.