As temperatures plunge, 5,000-strong Chain of Hope offers a warm welcome
As temperatures plunge, 5,000-strong Chain of Hope offers a warm welcome
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AS temperatures hit a bitter minus 11C this week, Mel Rumble was out clearing the icy pavement to the Our Place community centre. By midday in Boothtown, near Halifax, West Yorkshire, seven radiators were blasting, the tea urns were going strong, and they were serving a two-course meal of soup and apple pie to a steady stream of people coming through the pink doors. “This is actually quiet for us,” Mel, 42, says. “We usually have 80 in, but the snow and ice has stopped some people coming out.”.
Volunteers had been out collecting guests while dodging black ice, flood warnings and roads closed by abandoned cars. This is what a “Warm Welcome” really means on the coldest day of the year, and comes two years after the scheme was launched by Gordon Brown as part of the 2022 Daily Mirror Christmas Appeal.
Not just the physical warmth of a church hall, hairdresser’s or library – but the warmth of human kindness. Now there are almost 5,000 spaces, and the campaign has registered and linked up local spaces to become what the former Prime Minister calls a “Chain of Hope”. More than 900 new spaces joined this winter – including more than 40 who have registered since the cold snap.
In sub-zero conditions, Our Space is a lifeline for communities on low incomes. “It’s nice and warm in here today,” says Shelley Ledgard, 44, from Halifax, a disabled mum in a red Oodie – a hoodie crossed with a blanket. Shelley is a carer for both her daughter and her husband.
