We love hearing about the impact that Places of Welcome make in your local communities, and the many different ways that their volunteers’ generosity brings joy to those community members' lives, week in week out, all year round. Some of our wonderful Place of Welcome hosts have taken the time to share these fabulous heart-warming moments with us – they inspire and encourage us – we hope they do the same for you! Please do continue to share these special moments with us
Making People Feel Special
Open Door, St Andrew’s Church, Shifnal.
“The summer months had good attendance, despite the summer holidays and Big House in Church. Our Tuesdays were filled with a happy atmosphere and good social interaction and laughter. Each month we have a special lunch, which is always supported and involves the Open Door Team. We make it special for them and always interact with our lovely and loyal Ladies and Gents that enjoy the warm welcome they receive every week.
Jayne never forgets any upcoming Birthdays, and we make it a special birthday for Them. We sing Happy Birthday and a cake with candles is always supplied. We enjoy playing special card games, where if one of them wins, they receive a prize. We are all happy, making everyone feel relaxed and welcomed. Alan takes photos of everyone and we have a great many to look back on with our special occasions.”
Breaking Down Barriers
Cannock Library Place of Welcome
“After our SVP members had also become Library volunteers, and with Cannock Library providing the venue, we were able to ‘get going’ on this new venture and this has been a good example of how local organisations can work together successfully for the benefit of the community.
With a continuing number of refugees passing through our area, whom we continue to welcome on a weekly basis, we have encountered challenges from some individuals but, additionally, there are many who strive to break down barriers and learn about the difficulties many have faced in their quest to find a safe place to exist.
We have a variety of clients from a range of backgrounds and ethnic origins – some are retired, others are seeking work, some have disabilities, others are lost and lonely; all are wonderful and bring so much enrichment to our lives and to each other’s : All have so much to offer, hearing their stories, sharing their knowledge of the local area, telling of their experiences good and bad. Many have made new friendships and help one another to discuss and cope with many difficulties, including loss, economic difficulties, health needs. There’s also much banter, fun and laughter and our ‘regulars’ return week after week.
We do not underestimate how difficult it is for many people to initially walk through the door and join a new group, and sometimes there’s a little bit of gentle ‘coaxing’ required to take that first step but there is always a warm welcome awaiting them and many friendly faces who understand and will communicate just how hard that first step can be.
It has become a vital hub for many, and has given a number of our clients the courage to then join other groups, promoting their integration with others, reducing their loneliness and proving to themselves that they still have a valuable contribution to make to society and that there’s still plenty of life to live.”
Making New Community Connections
St Oswald’s Church, Oswestry
“We have one volunteer who began coming as a guest a few months ago and often offered to help; she has now joined our regular rota of kitchen helpers. She spends a lot of time in our local library, which is a community hub, and has now encouraged a new guest, whom she met at the library, to come to our Place of Welcome. She is helping us make a connection there.”
Reconnecting with Old Friends
Anonymised at Place of Welcome’s request 
"We had a lovely lady reach out recently. She had been socially isolated and had no family really. After several calls, she came along to one of our sessions. Through this, she was able to reconnect to friends she had lost touch with and she was even connected to a lady who turned out to be related to her. They would have never known this connection otherwise.
Our Place of Welcome is a well-loved session and is very popular with the locals. This is where strangers become friends and friends become family"
PCSO’s Pop in
Wellspring Methodist Church, Cheadle
"Quite often the local PCSO person will join us and chat to participants… now knowing there is the POW session on a Monday they pop in from time to time"
Combatting Loneliness and Isolation
Kingsley Holt Centre, Kingsley Holt
"Our Place of Welcome is for some elderly residents in our rural community the only chance they get to socialise with others. We have two ladies that visit every week who sit and chat together. They have both lived in the village a long time, and we always thought they were old friends, however we discovered they only met when our session began and are now firm friends. Running the sessions gives a vital social lifeline for elderly residents and creates friendship bonds that will last."
Trying New Things
St Michael’s Church, Rocester.
"My friend Mandy encouraged me to come to Craftea, in more ways than one I found a lovely warm welcome, the heating was on and people talked to me and encouraged me to try some new crafts. There is no pressure and if I prefer to just sit and chat then it’s fine. I really look forward to Monday afternoons."
Sharing Memories and Making More Memories
Holy Trinity Church, Buildwas
"During our Place of Welcome, we regularly share stories and memories of what happened to us as children. One regular attendee (Rosemary) shared a story of when she was a child in Primary school in a small village in Shropshire – you can read the story on pages 24 & 25 in the edition (April / May) of their community magazine ‘Under The Wrekin’: Also on page 21 is an article about our recent visit by Jim Hawkins to record his podcast ‘Hello You’.
We also had John, who is in his 70s and has had learning difficulties since birth who shared his passion for making snake door draught excluders (for the winter) and felt bunnies (for Easter). We have other attendees who’d like to take up painting, so we’re planning to do some arts classes now we’ve moved back into the church – we plan to sit in the churchyard and paint".
Becoming a Community Volunteer
Middleport Matters, Burslem
"Mary came to Middleport Matters in 2021, she is a local resident who lives a short distance away from the community hub. Although she knew her neighbours to say hello in passing, she had never really got to know them. She started attending our Tea & Toast session and found that she had quite a few neighbours who also attended.
Following encouragement from Middleport Matters team members, Mary started to attend more and more sessions including Extra Time, Female Wellbeing, Stitched Up and Games Night. Through this she has built a strong relationship with those who live in her street and other residents. They now often attend sessions and events together and offer support to each other outside of our activities.
Mary has had some difficult times through the years of engaging with Middleport Matters and has received ongoing support from the team and people she has met through our sessions, she says without this she doesn’t know what she would have done.
Mary has recently signed up as a volunteer, she is very passionate about litter picking and regularly helps us on our community clean ups. She is looking forward to getting more involved in the organisation and says her volunteering will “keep her sane” by giving her something to do other than looking at the same four walls.
Mary Says “Middleport Matters has saved my brain, I come along most days and wish I could come along more.”
Reliable Weekly Presence for All
The WEB Annexe St. John’s Church, Essington
"Our Drop-In every Thursday morning continues to be very well supported and enjoyed by a wide variety of people from this area. We have opened every Thursday and will continue to do so apart from Christmas Day!. Our typical attendance is 20+, age range 50-97, almost as many men as women, lots of laughter every week. We do not distinguish at all between Volunteers and Guests but we do always ensure that there is someone present who has completed safeguarding training (from our PCC)."
Providing Signposting and Support
Burntwood Library
"For the second time Burntwood Library has hosted the Lichfield District “Cost of Living” event during our Place of Welcome session. On 31st July we had 31 visitors requiring help, signposting or a chat attend our PoW which was very busy and buzzing with chatter.
For the second time Burntwood Library hosted an event by Burntwood Lions for lonely or alone members of our community with homemade cake and a cuppa. Thirteen people residents and “Lions” attended which also increased the numbers attending the library and our Places of Welcome."
Thank you to our Places of Welcome coordinators and volunteers who host their free coffee mornings and drop-ins weekly – our rays of sunlight – bringing the warmth of a cuppa and the glow of friendship to their local area. You can find these stories and many more here https://www.lichfield.anglican.org/community-news/