Crisis Response Grant

As winter draws closer and the UK has faced its toughest financial year in many years, one of the UK’s largest grant-making charities, Benefact Trust, has awarded an additional grant of £125,000 to Warm Welcome to help those struggling with poverty and isolation around the UK. This brings the total in Crisis Response Grants awarded to Warm Welcome to £225,000 in the last two years.

As the UK braces for colder days and darker nights, the challenges of poverty and isolation become more pronounced. With over 14.4 million people living in poverty and an additional 7 million experiencing chronic loneliness, it is evident that these issues require immediate attention. The Crisis Response Grants provided by Benefact Trust will enable the establishment and maintenance of local “Warm Welcome Spaces” where vulnerable individuals can find a sense of belonging and support during the harsh winter months.

The Warm Welcome Campaign

The Warm Welcome campaign is a collaboration involving more than 50 charities to address the cost-of-living crisis, which is considered one of the most severe the UK has faced in over 70 years. This joint effort aims to tackle the widespread issues of poverty, isolation and disconnected communities.

Statistics Highlighting the Crisis

To shed light on the severity of the situation, several statistics are outlined below:

• 5.5 million low-income households have had to reduce food consumption or skip meals due to financial constraints. Of these, 4 million have reported going hungry, and an additional 2.7 million have reported maintaining a poor diet because of the cost-of-living crisis.
• Nine out of ten low-income families relying on Universal Credit are forced to forgo essentials. This has resulted in 4.5 million households accumulating arrears, with an additional 2.6 million resorting to high-cost credit loans.
• Over 7 million people in the UK grapple with chronic loneliness, a condition that can have severe implications on mental and emotional well-being.

Accessing Warm Welcome Spaces

Finding the nearest Warm Welcome Space is easy for individuals seeking support and community through the campaign’s website, www.warmwelcome.uk. These spaces provide warmth and shelter and an opportunity for individuals to connect, make new friends, and combat loneliness.

David Barclay, Warm Welcome Campaign Director, comments:

“By working with Benefact Trust, our partners and the network of over 7,000 Warm Welcome Spaces, we believe that we can achieve something genuinely transformational in this country. We have a bold ambition to double our efforts this year, so everyone can access a warm and friendly space in their community, and no one has to face winter alone. Together we can build on the breathtaking show of bottom-up community resilience and creativity seen last winter and help channel this towards building a fairer and friendlier society, replacing poverty and isolation with warmth and local connection through the power of community spaces made by and for the community.”