This week is the the very first #WarmWelcomeWeek
Churches across our Diocese are providing warm spaces for people struggling to pay energy bills this winter, offering not just a refuge from the cold, but in many cases, food, activities and a chance to make friends and be part of a community.
A total of 485 Church of England churches so far have signed up to a Warm Welcome Spaces campaign – a UK wide network of more than 5,000 venues across the country including libraries and churches – offering a warm place for anybody in the community.
Nearly 400 Church of England churches are also part of the Places of Welcome network, coordinated by Church Urban Fund, which encourages community groups to provide their neighbourhoods with venues to meet every week all year round.
Volunteers from our churches help to run Foodbanks across the Diocese, offering a warm space, company and hot drinks, as well as access to the Foodbank via the recognised voucher scheme.
Ely Cathedral run a Lego and Boardgame café every Tuesday during term time from 3.30pm til 4.30pm in the Cathedral Centre. Families visiting their Lego café are served a hot meal and they offer toasties for children at the Boardgame café. Hot drinks for adults as well as unlimited cold drinks and fruit for everyone. The cafés are aimed at, but not restricted to families with children of primary school age. The team also run a small pantry for the families, stocked with surplus food they collect with Fareshare.
Alongside the warm space activities in the Cathedral Centre, anyone can come into the Cathedral at the West End and stand by the Gurney to warm up!
All Saints' Church in Landbeach provides a Warm Space and Community Lunch weekly from December to March, with WiFi, hot drinks and a hot lunch. Volunteers prepare and cook food collected from local supermarkets via the food wastage scheme.
As well as a cooked lunch once a week in the school holidays (including half term), Make Lunch Linton at St Mary's Church Linton also offers a safe space to meet friends and spend time together with a cup of tea or coffee. They also provide crafts, games and other activities for the younger members of the family to keep them entertained, with special activities to support learning too.
Many churches across Fenland are open during the Winter months as Community Living Rooms for companionship and to make social connections.
If your church is involved in giving a Warm Welcome, please do let us know by emailing communications@elydiocese.org - we would love to include you in future news!
And if you're not already involved, why not take some inspiration from those featured here? Please do get in touch if you would like to connect in with others to share ideas!