Giving a warm welcome

SALVATION Army halls have always been places of welcome but, as the cost of living crisis bites, the practicalities of keeping warm in winter have come to the forefront of hearts and minds around the country.

The Warm Welcome Campaign is a multi-denominational initiative to provide more than 1,000 places of warm welcome in the winter months for people struggling to heat their homes or stay warm. The spaces are free, heated, inclusive and non-judgemental.

This has given corps and centres opportunities to learn more about community engagement and thereby broaden the access to other elements of their programmes. More than 100 Salvation Army locations are now registered with the campaign.

With mission and purpose at the heart of any community activity, it’s not about how many people are coming through, but about the relationships nurtured along the way. As people are sharing stories of their warm spaces, it’s becoming clear that these are at the heart of fruitful growth.

From The Front Line

We’ve been running our warm space since November and we plan to keep it open until the end of March, writes Lieutenant Miriam Smith (Glenrothes). We provide a place to have a ‘blether’ or play games. We find that most just want to come for some company.

The corps have embraced this venture, with volunteers coming to enjoy the company of others and engage in conversation. One of my congregation is an Employment Plus worker. She has made herself known to people and is available to offer help and advice.

As far as we’re concerned, this is the sort of thing that William Booth would have done! We already had a group that met for lunch on Monday, and we had been thinking about how that could be more missional, so we expanded that session to provide something ‘more’ for the community to come to. I am now starting to think about how it could become even ‘more’ after the end of March, as we don’t have a midweek faith-based programme for adults.

One couple started attending Sunday worship and brought their granddaughter, so we’re excited about what God is doing!

This was something we could do simply by extending activities we were already providing, explains Major Steven Watson (Whitehaven). We open three days a week with hot drinks and toast during the morning and hot soup and a roll over lunchtime. Because of the activities that already exist, the building is already warm.

We were later approached by our local authority asking to rent the building one day a week to provide a warm space. We didn’t have the capacity to do this without compromising our own activities, but we managed to link into their social prescribing team, giving them the ability to signpost to us.

I signed up to help advance what we are doing in a small highland village, says Major Janet McIntyre (Kinlochleven). We try to encourage our villagers to get out of their houses and come and enjoy food and drink.

It gives us an opportunity to have meaningful discussions concerning what is happening around us. We play Christian music as well as secular music and sometimes have Army videos playing, which encourages discussion. Most of the people who come are in the older age bracket and live alone, so it’s important that we try to design it according to their needs.

I attended the launch event of the Warm Welcome UK initiative as I prepared for the impact winter was going to have on our community – one

Starting Points

Is it already happening?

How do your current activities or groups already offer a warm space? Who else is doing it?

How could you work with nearby churches, faith groups, organisations or councils?

What’s the purpose?

How are you using your warm space to build relationships and share the good news?

What’s next?

How could you link people into other activities at the corps and nurture them as disciples of Jesus?

of the most deprived areas in Edinburgh, explains Lorraine Duncan (Edinburgh Granton)

It was inspiring to hear how everyone was immediately ready to help. There were some great ideas as to how to make a difference.

It’s important to us to work with the other churches in our area and we found they were on the same page, so we agreed that we would support each other to offer the community somewhere they could go every day. We advertise our days and times via warmgranton.info Each church has its own community programme so it’s also a great way of sharing and mapping what’s happening locally.

We offer free co-working space and free secure charging using our lockable charging station. Our visitors can use lockers while accessing other services, completing a training course, attending workshops or enjoying a coffee. We’re also ensuring that those we support are fully equipped with the advice and guidance they need to heat their homes effectively and manage their incomes.

Find your nearest warm welcome space or register a venue today at warmwelcome.uk

HOW CAN YOU TAKE PART?

Scan the QR code to find out more about ways to get involved, or visit salvationist.org.uk/warmwelcome

Quick Quotes

‘We made a conscious decision to avoid stigma around the space by not operating a headcount or any sign-in procedure. Our intention was for people to feel welcome, loved and valued. If the building is open, the warm space is available!’

Community Programme and Engagement Manager Kathryn Casserley (Southport)

‘Our warm space is set up café-style. About 15 to 20 people have come along. In the future, we hope to build upon it as a midweek fellowship.’

CSM Lynne Brill (Merthyr Tydfil)

‘The campaign has highlighted existing services and facilities, and that Church isn’t a place you just go to on Sundays, which has been beneficial in bringing new people into our building.’

Captain Martin Davison (Salisbury)

‘We registered to make the public aware of the space available and to work in partnership with other facilities, such as the library.’

Captain Mark Cozens (Batley)

‘It has become a real community space and every week we have amazing conversations. Building alongside things that were already running seems to be working.’

Captain Emma Heal (Kilmarnock)

‘The corps has had a breakfast club for decades but questioned if they could do more. Now, our Tuesday evenings increasingly attract Ukrainian families who live across the road.’

Captain Megan Kervin (Paisley Citadel)

‘We created our welcome hub from our band room and bookshop as part of the corps vision around making the theology of welcome a reality.’

Community Engagement Lead

Emma Neill (Regent Hall)

‘The hall is always open for people, so in some ways we’ve been doing this unofficially for a long time. We haven’t had the response we expected, but we’re working in conjunction with other agencies in the area and will continue to be open for people as long as it’s needed.’

Major Michael West (Swinton)