Postcode map helps people find free warm spaces in their area on cold days this winter
The Warm Welcome Campaign launches Warm Welcome Week today on Blue Monday, to highlight the importance of Warm Welcome Spaces where people can find a place of warmth and connection wherever they live. New research and data analysis conducted by the Warm Welcome Campaign shows that although the number of Warm Welcome Spaces is growing, with 5,000 now registered with the campaign, more work is needed to ensure everyone can find a place of warmth and belonging.
Around 66 per cent of people in the UK live within a 30-minute walk of a Warm Welcome Space, yet only 20 per cent of people are aware of their local Warm Welcome Space. Since October 2024, the number of registered Warm Welcome Spaces has grown by 25 per cent from 4,000 to 5,000. The campaign said that almost 5.5 million people (8.1%) have visited a warm space in the last 12 months.
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This January, the Warm Welcome Campaign is taking back ‘Blue Monday’, traditionally the most depressing day of the year, and giving it a colourful makeover. In Warm Welcome Week, the campaign is asking everyone to wear warm colours and get creative with pinks, oranges, reds, and purples to show their support and to raise awareness of Warm Welcome Spaces.
The campaign group is also encouraging more pop-up spaces to open to offer a warm, welcoming, and safe space for anyone in their community, particularly those experiencing loneliness and those who cannot afford to heat their home.
Over the last two weeks, when temperatures dipped to below freezing, another 100 community spaces registered as Warm Welcome Spaces. The Warm Welcome Campaign wants to grow the number of spaces, so everyone can access a Warm Welcome Space in their neighbourhood.
Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown, Founding Patron for the Warm Welcome Campaign, said: “In the darkest and coldest times, Warm Welcome Spaces offer communities a chain of hope. Without these community spaces, people would be at home with the heating off - and thus alone and in the cold. They offer more than just the warmth of heating, but the warmth of friendship.
“I want everyone to experience the joy of human warmth this winter at a local Warm Welcome Space. Join me in supporting Warm Welcome Week and spreading the word so that everyone knows there's a Warm Welcome Space close to home. Together we can make every community a warmer, friendlier, and more hopeful place.”
David Barclay, Warm Welcome Campaign Director, adds: “We have already seen huge demand for Warm Welcome Spaces this January, not only supporting people struggling to pay the bills but also playing a vital role in connecting communities and giving people a place of belonging. The dark winter days and nights of January can be extremely tough. We don’t want anyone to feel cold or alone this winter.
“We’re asking everyone to join us in Warm Welcome Week to raise awareness so more people can find a place of warmth and welcome and by encouraging more community spaces to open their doors to local people. Everyone can show their support by simply wearing bright warming colours of pinks, oranges, purples, and reds to represent the joy, positivity, and friendship found in every Warm Welcome Space.”
Warm Welcome Week is supported by the growing network of the Warm Welcome Campaign’s corporate partners, including Co-op, National Grid Electricity Distribution, OVO, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, and Sky Cares.
The Warm Welcome website hosts an interactive Warm Welcome Spaces map which helps people find their nearest space by simply entering their postcode.
You can find your nearest warm space here.
