19 November 2024
“Fellowship, a nice cup of tea and toast. It's a warm, nice and safe space. It’s also accessible for my mobility scooters,” these are the reasons why John has been coming for a year and made a couple of friends with whom he weekly shares tea and a nice time.
Pontefract Warm Room started in November 2022 to “Offer the community a warm space where they could come in, connect with other people, get to know each other and explore faith,” explains Paula Ridley, Lay employee in the Aire & Calder circuit in the Yorkshire West Methodist District.
After a slow start over the winter, the Warm Room started to get more visitors in the spring and summer of 2023. At first, people were sitting in their own space, enjoying the warmth, beverages and food, but without engaging much.
Over time, they have opened up and started talking to each other and the volunteers, sharing care and concerns. “They've become friends. We are a community and we notice if someone's missing,” adds Paula.
For Leslie, one of the volunteers, it is important to “Reach out to the community and this is one way of doing it. I think it's important that we are open to the community and its needs.”
She welcomes people and prepares tea and toasts but the volunteers are the ones running the project, notably with preparing and serving the food and doing the washing up. Every week, four or five volunteers come, depending on their schedule.
More than providing a weekly meeting and companionship, Pontefract Warm Room also offers help to people who need it. For Paula, “We're not a food bank or able to offer a place to stay, but we help find somebody who can offer help.”
Now, between 30 and 35 regulars are coming every week. The Warm Room is open from 10 am to 2. “Some stay the all-time, some pop in for a cuppa and a chat, others come to join the reflection and stay for lunch. Not everyone is Christian and some decide to stay at their tables during the reflection,” says Paula.
The reflection varies every week with a different leader. It can be an open conversation, singing hymns, crafting, or listening to music. The goal is for people to start conversations and get people to engage in any way.
From the start, Pontefract Warm Room received funding from the church to operate, as well as grants from the Asda Foundation, Warm Welcome Spaces, Benefact Trust and, in 2023, a grant from the Yorkshire West Methodist District.