Warm Welcome Campaign welcomes government’s Pride in Place programme

The Warm Welcome Campaign, which brings together more than 5,400 community warm welcome spaces up and down the country, has welcomed the government’s Pride in Place programme which will see up to £5bn of funding support 250 of the most in-need neighbourhoods across Britain over the next decade.

‍

Warm Welcome Campaign Director David Barclay said: “This is exactly the kind of long-term, significant funding commitment that we want to see from government to upgrade our social infrastructure. At Warm Welcome we're ready to work with the Communities Delivery Unit and Neighbourhood Boards to offer our support to new and improved community spaces across the country.”

‍

He added: "We look forward to new Warm Welcome Spaces being created through this programme and to spaces joining our movement to ensure everyone up and down the country has great local access to thriving community spaces.”

‍

Announcing its Pride of Place programme on 25 September, the government said: “[This] will continue to put decision-making power in the hands of local people, so those most affected call the shots; it offers the flexibility to respond to local needs and opportunities.”

‍

The Warm Welcome Campaign was founded in 2022, to turn the tide on loneliness and poverty by connecting communities and giving people a place of belonging in a Warm Welcome Space close to home.

‍

The Campaign resources, connects, and champions a network of 5,400+ Warm Welcome Spaces and brings together a growing coalition of local, regional, and national partners representing the worlds of charity, faith, business, government, and philanthropy.

‍

Warm Welcome has a bold ambition to enable a more deeply connected society where we all have free access to welcoming community spaces. By working together, we can unlock the power of community spaces made by and for everyone, creating a thriving network of hope and reconnection fuelled by human warmth.

‍

Across the UK, 14.4 million people live in poverty, and 7% of the population experience chronic loneliness. Loneliness is one of the most prevalent crises of our times.

‍