‘We’ve got you.’
This World Suicide Prevention Day, if you or a loved one needs support, reach out to Hospitality Action. Visit www.hospitalityaction.org.uk or call the HA Helpline on +448088020282.
It’s Hospitality Action’s simple promise to hospitality professionals in a crisis, or time of need. But to Charlie Hodson, those words are the difference between a life saved and a life lost.
Charlie said: “I was alone and broken, and I thought that there was nothing left in the world for me.
“And now, years later, when those three words mill round my head… those words save lives. Because I sit here as one of those. But I'm not the only one.”
CHARLIE’S STORY
On August 11, 2019, Charlie Hodson was preparing to take his own life. It was to be his third attempt to do so, after years of feeling like there was no other way to find peace.
Charlie said: “I knew inside that I would never be happy until I was dead.”
That day he had everything prepared. He had planned out his attempt, ensuring he couldn’t be tracked, and had even packed the clothes he wanted to be buried in.
“That’s how far it goes.”
But a simple tweet he posted earlier that day showed the power of human kindness and caring. Hodson’s ‘saving graces’ as he called them, were there to help bring him off the ledge.
“So I got a bus and I put a little post up on Twitter saying, going off to the sea for a swim. To most people that would have been, ‘oh, that's cool’. But one of my mates picked it up and thought, ‘what's Charlie going to the beach for’? And my phone started to ring constantly, constantly, constantly.”
Another of Charlie’s friends was a police inspector, and with intervention from the police, Charlie was unable to carry out his original plan.
“Because in the world we live in… it can be a matter of life and death with small acts of human kindness. And I revert back to my saving grace, which were 12 people including my close family and my close friends, who never stopped asking and never stopped supporting.”
After speaking to the police and eventually being taken to hospital, he went home that evening with a friend.
“As we walked out of the hospital, my friend just said to me, ‘But that's not it, is it?’
“So I knew this has to stop. You've got to find a way to talk about and release, get away from the darkness. There has to be a way. And I was sitting there opposite my mate having toast, a cup of tea for breakfast, and it just all came out.”
RECOVERY
On August 14, 2019, three days after the attempt on his life, Charlie filed historical sexual abuse allegations, dating back to when he was a child in the 1970s and 1980s.
“Everyone knew I was messed up, but not to the extent or the cause.”
Approaching his 50th birthday, Charlie had never told a soul about what happened to him in his youth. He had been a chef since 1993, working in elite kitchens and earning awards, all the while keeping his past a secret.
“Deep within, the (accolades) were all a blanket for how broken I was.”
To function, Charlie had turned to alcohol, drinking vast amounts to cope with the burdens of the day, and the darkness that he felt within.
“I found my escape through alcohol and addiction. But even prior to being in this industry, I started drinking at the age of 16 quite heavily. And that followed me all of my working life.”
But after filing historical sex offence charges in 2019, everything began to change. Charlie began a journey towards recovery and rebuilding his life with the help of Hospitality Action (HA).
“For me it was learning to cope. Because if I could cope, then I could rebuild.
“Somehow I had to find a coping mechanism. And that came through my amazing counselling through my counsellor, but also the support through HA.
“We often talk within Hospitality Action, it's an arm around one shoulder. Just letting them know. It can be an individual, it can be a family, but to me it was individual. It's all right, because I'm not going anywhere.”
Charlie’s road to recovery has not been simple or straightforward. In 2020 he was diagnosed with bowel cancer. He says this was a pivotal moment in his mental transition.
“I remember waking up in hospital thinking I don’t want to die. Because it’s not my doing. I’m not in control of it.”
Charlie’s stage 2 cancer was aggressive, but eventually went into remission, and he could continue his journey toward recovery.
A NEW LIFE
After recovering from cancer, and rebuilding his life through counselling, Charlie made a big decision on his continued his road to recovery.
“On November 24, 2025 I decided that I had to change one thing which was to be honest with the world and my family and my close friends that alcohol was much more of a problem (than I said). So the following morning, on November 25, that was the start of my sobriety.
“And when all of your adult life has been consumed by addiction in that shape and form. And maybe get a bit wiser, get a bit older, I made that decision that I would never have a drink again.
“Because the people I love, my friendships and the life that I then had far outweighed that need. I knew if I carried on personally that would be the end. And that scared me quite a lot. And I no longer wanted to be scared because I spent most of my life being scared of my past. And I didn't want to be scared of my future.”
For Charlie this moment was a culmination of years of work ‘learning to cope’, to be able live a better life, out of the darkness.
And on the very same day, November 24, Charlie retired professionally from hospitality to be able to spend more time with those close to him, and to support Hospitality Action.
“There’s two things in life I can’t live without. My friends and my Norfolk family that I now have, and my extended family through HA.
“So stopping working was much more about me being able to give time to my loved ones to make sure I was there for them, but also to make sure I was there for HA to help fulfil that promise that they made to me in my time of need without asking for anything in return, which is quite amazing. Life-changing.”
WE’VE GOT YOU
It is hard for Charlie to talk about what Hospitality Action means to him without getting emotional. And he always brings it back to those words, ‘We’ve Got You’.
“It shows the power of those words. It shows the promise. And it shows the simplicity.”
Charlie had been an ambassador for Hospitality Action since 2017, but in 2025 he was asked to become a patron of the charity, speaking around the country on behalf of the ‘voices yet to be heard.’
“When I look at all the other patrons like Tom Kerridge and Raymond Blanc and all our other amazing patrons and ambassadors that we now have, and then there's me. It fills me with an immense amount of pride.
“And I wanted to use that as an impactful way of speaking on behalf of Hospitality Action and those within for the voices that have yet to be heard. People like me of all ages who work within our wider hospitality family, who might be sitting on that precipice of life where they don't know where to turn.
“And by telling our stories as individuals, how we tell our story will hopefully be relatable to other people who might go 'actually I was there or I am there or to make a difference'.”
Now sober and fully committed to providing support for hospitality professionals everywhere, Charlie’s story is in an inspirational one. It shows that no matter what you are going through or have to deal with, there are always people there for you. There are always people that will be there to put an arm around your shoulder and say ‘We’ve Got You.’
“So many people want to change the world, but for me and HA, it's about changing one life.
“So if one person gets to read this, who might in that moment in time be on that precipice, stops them from doing it, our job is done.”
GET SUPPORT FROM HOSPITALITY ACTION
Call 0808 802 0282 for free confidential advice 24/7. All of Hospitality Action’s calls are answered by trained counsellors who will provide in the moment support and signposting to further help.
Hospitality Action also provides a cost-effective industry-specific Employee Assistance Programme, providing comprehensive, round-the-clock support tailored to your team’s needs.
To find out more email [email protected].
We’ve got you.
