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Toasty Tuesdays, sometimes held in the morning, sometimes in the afternoon, only started on 4 February this year, after funding was granted by Derbyshire County Council.
Held at Erewash Voluntary Action, the council for voluntary service (CVS) in the small Derbyshire town of Long Eaton, Toasty Tuesdays involve a cup of tea and a slice or two of toast in a Warm Welcome Space. It was recently the 5,200th space to register with the Warm Welcome campaign.
Communications Officer Emma Duthie says: “We’re in a big building in the middle of a residential area and people didn’t know what we do. Some people have come in [since advertising Toasty Tuesdays] and they’re interested in volunteering or in one of our services.”
The building houses a Social Prescribing team, the Derbyshire Mental Health Forum, the Community Engagement team and the Volunteer Centre for the area.
“There are so many local warm spaces,” says Emma, “that we wanted to stand out. So we came up with Toasty Tuesdays.”
The branding has been so successful, that they’re holding a ‘Toasty Tuesday presents’ Social Prescribing Day on 18 March (the day before the National Social Prescribing Day). At Erewash CVS, this will involve a free workshop on building confidence and self-care and they expect 50 to 60 people to attend.
Other activities have included talks on energy efficiency, dementia awareness, volunteering, a book swap and and an arts and crafts event.
Erewash Voluntary Action was already a busy organisation, offering a range of services to its community – Toasty Tuesdays have added to the offer with a warm, welcoming and free space for people to visit and find out more about support available for local people.
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