Bringing Places of Welcome Together Across Greater Manchester

At Greater Together Manchester, we're proud to coordinate the Places of Welcome network across Greater Manchester. While every Place of Welcome is different, they all share the same simple mission: offering a warm welcome, a listening ear and a place where everyone belongs.

To support the amazing volunteers and hosts who make these spaces possible, we recently launched our new Places of Welcome Quarterly Catch-Up – an opportunity for people from across the network to come together, share ideas and learn from one another.

Our first gathering was a great success, with around 30 representatives from Places of Welcome joining us for a morning of conversation, encouragement and collaboration. Together, they celebrated what is working well, explored some of the challenges they face and shared practical ideas to help their communities thrive.

Discussions covered everything from attracting funding and recruiting volunteers to creative activities that help people connect. One of the highlights of the morning was seeing people freely exchange contacts, resources and recommendations. Whether it was sharing details of an excellent chair exercise instructor or swapping ideas that had worked in their own venues, there was a genuine spirit of generosity and mutual support throughout the room.

Running a Place of Welcome can be incredibly rewarding, but it also comes with its challenges. That's why creating opportunities for volunteers to connect with others who understand the journey is so important. By learning from one another and building stronger relationships across the network, we're helping to ensure that Places of Welcome continue to flourish in communities across Greater Manchester.

A huge thank you to everyone who joined us for our first Quarterly Catch-Up. We're already looking forward to the next gathering as we continue to strengthen this incredible network of welcoming spaces, one conversation at a time.

Interested in starting a Place of Welcome in your community? We'd love to hear from you and help you get started? Contact Harry: harriet@greatertogethermanchester.org for more information

Thanks to the Benefact Trust for funding our support of churches and communities across Greater Manchester.