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Offering warm spaces for everyone

Warm Welcome Spaces is a campaign that locates, connects, and promotes spaces across the country to support those who otherwise would be without heating, comfort, or the financial means to keep themselves warm in the colder months.

To be eligible for the campaign, spaces need to be warm, welcoming, free and safe. In its first year, over 7,500 spaces received around 2.4 million visits across the UK.

Why engage?

The community benefits of the campaign are many, including a greater sense of involvement, reduced feelings of loneliness, greater chances for positivity, including solutions to financial worries, opportunities for new friendships and a reduced stigma around poverty.

Encouraging participation

While the personal benefits of those using the spaces provided by Warm Welcome Spaces are enormous, there’s also lots of positives for participating organisations, their workforce and volunteers. These include:

Increased awareness for participating organisations and any other activities on offer.
Improved appeal to potential funders, grants and sponsors.
Promotion through the Warm Spaces website and its ‘space finder’ map.
Greater opportunity to connect with community members and to understand their needs.
New avenues to access resources and develop stronger relationships with facility managers (if in a rented space).

As well as any of the above, inspirational testimonials and case studies provide yet more powerful reasons to be involved.

Volunteers

Every week, 17,000 volunteers support the Warm Welcome Spaces campaign.

With so many organisations struggling to find people to support their activities, this is a great way of promoting community integration and action for the benefit of others.

Volunteering with the campaign doesn’t require specialist knowledge, training or an extensive time commitment, but just a simple passion for supporting others around you.

Hosting a warm space could, in turn, increase volunteer interest in your club or group, upskill individuals who otherwise may not engage with your organisation, or bring new ideas and different voices to the organisation and running of your group.

Challenges

The campaign’s evolution hasn’t been without its challenges, like spreading the word locally.

With several place-based partners across the country, it can be difficult to connect different spaces and provide adequate coverage for those that need access the most.  

It’s also been challenging to link local people with warm spaces when people have communication barriers such as digital poverty or a lack of social media access; when communication has been too complex and troublesome to understand, or when there is a fear of judgement for accessing help.

Much like other community organisations, finding enough people to support the delivery of the programme can be difficult, but promoting the social benefits of volunteering with Warm Welcome Spaces has proved a productive way to engage more people.  

How can you get involved?

There are many ways to be involved with the campaign:

  • Have you got your own facility?

    Consider opening your doors to your community when your main activities aren’t happening or offering taster sessions to a new cohort of people.

    Rotherham United Community Trust (RUCT) is a good example of what can be achieved by getting involved.

    Located in an area of high deprivation, RUCT has introduced Warm Welcome sessions during the autumn and winter.

    They offer a diverse range of activities including coffee mornings, fitness sessions, and youth clubs.

    Notably, they've created a safe space for men struggling with various mental health challenges through "mental health football, which "enables individuals to bond over shared experiences, promoting a sense of normalcy and friendship".

    The initiative welcomes people of all ages, from those in their 20s to pensioners, providing valuable support and helping reduce heating costs for everybody.

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  • Don't have your own facilities or they’re already booked out?

    You can chat to local Warm Welcome Spaces and see if you can get involved by running activities or taster sessions at their venue(s).

    Find what’s happening in your area on the Warm Welcome Spaces interactive map.

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Find out more

Warm Welcome Spaces

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