You're Welcome

The Warm Welcome Campaign exists to turn poverty and isolation into warmth and welcome through the power of local Spaces made by and for the community.

We want everyone to access a warm and welcoming space. Please join our community and register your Space today.

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The need for

Warm Welcome Spaces

By working together, Warm Welcome will ensure everyone has somewhere warm and friendly to go, so no one is ever left to get through winter alone.
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The dark evenings and cold winter months are challenging for everyone, especially people who feel lonely and isolated, and anyone who can’t afford to heat their home or feed themselves.

Poverty

The rising cost-of-living means that too many vulnerable people are falling into debt and struggling to keep warm or buy the food or essentials they need. Over 14.4 million people live in poverty in the UK.

Safety

The top reasons visitors had for coming to a Warm Welcome space were its warmth, its safety, to meet new and old friends, and because it was free.

Loneliness

Over 7 million people experience chronic loneliness. We all lived through the pandemic and experienced the impact of social isolation. Feeling isolated and alone can affect your physical and mental health.

Cold

Over half of visitors would have been at home with the heating off if they had not been at a Warm Welcome Space.

Read the story of Warm Welcome

7000

+

Spaces registered last year

Register Your Space Now

Make sure your space is registered so everyone can find a local Warm Welcome Space.

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Getting Started

Have a read of our getting started guide to give you an idea of what it’s like to set up a space.

Our Impact

78%

of respondents saw an increase in the number of people visiting the building since becoming a Warm Welcome space.

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74%

of spaces registered with Warm Welcome because they wanted to be part of something bigger.

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70%

of spaces said that the campaign had helped the reputation of their organisation locally.

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Stories from Spaces

Discover the heartwarming stories of spaces making a difference.

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More stories from Spaces

Escape

It was the escape from an empty house that people found most gratifying about our warm space.

Healing and recovery

"Our warm haven provided a vital support system where ethnic minority women could come and share their stories, build friendships, develop resilience and a sense of worth. Supporting these women helped to rebuild their trust, self-confidence, self-esteem and the ability to move towards healing and recovery."

Shamina

Shamina Newham Muslim Forum

Part of a movement

"It’s great to be part of a movement, it fitted with our culture, our way of working with the community, especially vulnerable and excluded people. Before we joined, we were already thinking about what we could do to support our community through the cost of living crisis. We always have our spaces open everyday so it made great sense to tell people they could use the space as somewhere to keep warm as well."

Hannah Cox

CEO, Jacksons Lane Arts organisation

Shaped by needs

“People like it here as what we offer is shaped by their needs, it’s their space. Many of the people are distrusting of other agencies, so this is a space where they can be themselves.”

Rev Julie Wing

Unsworth, Washington, St Michael’s Church and community space called Mickey’s.

Meals together

“We knew that the worst time of day for those who are cold and isolated is in the evenings. So, we offered a warm space and evening meal. It’s the time of day when people need to put their heating on, so they saved quite a bit of money coming here. We loved creating the menus and cooking and bringing people together. It meant that whole families could come together for a meal they haven’t had to pay for. Vitally, children got a meal too.

Alongside food and drink we made sure there were activities, including board games that everyone could engage with.

We had one teenage boy with autism who really didn’t like leaving his room. His foster carer persuaded him to come along, and he loved it. He started playing chess with another person and it really made a big impact on his life.”

Annie Hall

Oak Community Church based in Orpington SE London

New friends

I have new friends, I'm learning English, I will be swimming.

Not alone

I always look forward to meeting new people and enjoy a meal with them instead of being alone.

Needs met

Going to a Warm Welcome space has enabled me to be warm and have food, which I would not have done had I remained at home. I met new friends outside my usual acquaintances.

Refuge

I can have some good time at the Warm Welcome Space, as I live at a house with people who are hostile to me. Coming here is a relief for me, instead of sitting at coffee shops and spending money there, I can sit here for free.

Helped me to cope

It’s helped me cope with the hard times. Knowing other people are going through the same and having somewhere to meet with those people that’s both safe and warm and free has been a real big help and taken worry and stress out of stressful situations.

Stories from Visitors

Discover how Warm Welcome has changed lives for the better.

More stories from visitors

What we do

The Warm Welcome Campaign tackles isolation and poverty in the UK by bringing local communities together, equipping, supporting, and connecting thousands of warm and welcoming spaces to help local people thrive.

We are building a movement for a fairer and friendlier society by supporting warm and welcoming spaces in every community in the UK.

Find out more about us

Supporting Spaces

We will resource, celebrate, and connect Warm Welcome Spaces across the country, showing how communities can work together to turn poverty, disconnection and exclusion into warmth and local connection.

Access to all

We will ensure everyone has an open invitation to a warm and welcoming space so they can connect with others, get the support they need and feel part of their local community.