Facing the winter together - thoughts from the Warm Welcome Launch

On 3rd October we had the pleasure of launching the Warm Welcome Campaign for this coming winter. This will be the third winter since the Campaign first launched, and sadly we know that Warm Spaces will be needed this year just as much as ever, with millions across the UK likely to struggle to keep themselves and their families warm.

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So it was gratifying to be able to demonstrate the wide range of support and resources that the Warm Welcome Campaign has on offer for community groups looking to open their doors and serve their neighbours in the coming months. In particular, the Launch event kick-started our 100% Pledge Campaign, expressing our collective ambition to ensure that everybody in the UK has access to a thriving Warm Welcome Spaces near their home.

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Several of our business partners who are early adopters of this Pledge spoke at the launch, including Rich Allcock from National Grid who pledged their support for Warm Welcome and for local Spaces this winter, both in terms of financial assistance but also in connecting groups with other support offers like home energy advice. Dave Luckin from Co-Op Group talked about how they were communicating with millions of their members about Warm Welcome, while Andy Button-Stephens from the Barratt Foundation spoke of their ambition to engage colleagues in volunteering opportunities at local Spaces.

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We also heard from a couple of brilliant local Spaces about the incredible impact they are having and how being part of Warm Welcome nationally helps resource and equip them to do more. Fran Etherington from the Old Fire Station in Leeds spoke about how Warm Welcome had connected them to support from Sky, enabling them to run special events that brought together groups that would otherwise struggle to mix, whilst Revd Polly Kersys-Hull from Holy Trinity Church in Leytonstone told the moving story of Jay, a young man whose life has been utterly transformed through volunteering at the Space.

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Finally, the Launch also contained a special message from Warm Welcome’s Founding Patron, the former Prime Minister Gordon Brown. He hailed Warm Welcome Spaces as a ‘Chain of a Hope’ and urged more groups to register, saying: “Today almost two out of every three people are within 30 minutes of a Warm Welcome Space in their community. But that's not good enough: we have set ourselves a new mission for the next year to ensure that 100% of the population has access to a Warm Welcome Space within walking distance.”

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With almost 600 people in attendance at the Launch and many others now watching the recording and signing up their Space, the event was a huge success and gives the Campaign a boost of momentum at a critical time in the run up to winter. We know that Warm Welcome Spaces will be a lifeline for many in the coming months, and we are determined to do everything we can to resource, connect and champion them in that work.

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