fifteen British Hospitality Companies Provide Unused Accommodations to Caregivers
Over 10,000 vital rest periods have been provided to uncompensated caregivers thanks to tech charity FreelyCaring. This initiative involves thirteen hotel groups, such as Holiday Inn Express, Hilton, Residence Inn by Marriott, and Crowne Plaza, who incorporate it into their Environmental Social and Governance (ESG) planning, utilizing rooms that would otherwise go unused.
As stated on FreelyCaring's website, "By utilizing the hotel industry's excess capacity, we're enabling countless caregivers across the nation to obtain necessary rest, without placing an extra financial burden on the public sector."
In accordance with charity Space to Relax, which grants unsold hotel rooms to caregivers and volunteers, approximately 140,000 hotel rooms remain vacant and unused each night in the U.K. According to Space to Relax, this equates to $6.4 billion in annual squandered assets.
FreelyCaring has previously been recognized with the sustainability prize at the Skift Innovation, Design, and Experience Awards (IDEA), honoring "game-changing ideas shaping the future of travel."
Established in 2016, FreelyCaring offers an ESG solution, empowering hotels to readily distribute their vacant rooms to confirmed unpaid caregivers, trace their impact, and recommend caregivers from their own workforce for a respite, thereby also benefiting from this enhanced wellbeing support.
Atlas Hotels and Greene King joined the program in 2024.
Participating hotels offer one to two night bed and breakfast packages for two individuals, with caregivers paying a $42 administrative fee to the charity.
To date, 28,000 full-time, uncompensated caregivers have registered with FreelyCaring, with the charity estimating that up to four million individuals provide more than 30 hours of unpaid care work per week without access to rest.
Of the 10,729 caregivers who have taken a break with FreelyCaring, 78% had not taken a break in a year, and for 38% of caregivers, it had been more than three years.
"From personal experience, there is an urgent necessity to support caregivers, who make a remarkable and selfless personal sacrifice," said David Orr, CEO of Resident Hotels and Sleeperz Group.
"Partnering with FreelyCaring presents a unique opportunity for us and the broader hotel industry, to assist these selfless individuals with rest away from home," he added.
Following FreelyCaring's successful implementation of providing rest periods for caregivers, the charity has emphasized the importance of sustainability and innovation in its missions. FreelyCaring's recognition at the Skift IDEA Awards underscores their commitment to driving game-changing ideas that incorporate sustainability and innovation in the travel industry to support unpaid caregivers.
