Its all been a bit of a scramble but there’s a network of community resources opening up across the UK to provide warm spaces for people, free of charge. We were already planning to be part of it as a response to the cost of living crisis, but the cold snap this week has only underlined how important it is. Local government services, faith groups, and community groups have been working together to try and provide support – and now there’s a searchable resource online – www.warmwelcome.uk – that should help you find warm spaces or to recommend them to other people. You’ll be seeing more about this through the winter and I hope its helpful to amplify it here.
The Warm Welcome scheme was started by the ChurchWorks Commission and is enthusiastically open about partnering up with anyone who is providing assistance across the UK. There’s an extensive FAQ on the website with all sorts of advice on setting up and partnering to provide safe and warm spaces so please do have a read through.
The libraries in my group are going live as sites as a soft launch while we finalise comms and supplies, mostly as it builds on our general availability around the year and existing mission to be safe and neutral spaces for all. The enduring appeal of working in libraries for me is the supporting role we play in our communities as a social space and its no leap at all to extend this winter. The paperwork is extensive, but the risk assessments are worth it…
TimMaidment.Com 