This January, the Warm Welcome Campaign is launching Warm Welcome Week, starting on ‘Blue Monday’, running from Monday 20 January to Sunday 26 January 2025. The Warm Welcome Campaign will be taking ‘Blue Monday’ back by giving it a colourful makeover. In Warm Welcome Week, we are asking everyone to wear warm colours and get creative with pinks, oranges, reds, and purples to chase the blues away this January. Warm Welcome Week will shine a colourful light on the joy, positivity, friendship, and connection found in every Warm Welcome Space fuelled by human warmth.

January is the coldest, loneliest, and most financially challenging time of the year. In recent years, the phrase ‘Blue Monday’ has been adopted to describe the month’s lowest point. As well as taking its toll on mental health, this long, dark month can be financially difficult, and many households face the stark choice between heating and eating. Warm Welcome Spaces are a lifeline to people who are struggling to keep warm and to those who feel lonely and isolated.

The campaign is also encouraging pop-up community spaces to open during Warm Welcome Week, even if it’s only for a few hours, to offer a warm, welcoming, and safe space for anyone in their community, particularly those experiencing loneliness and those who cannot afford to heat their homes.

David Barclay, Warm Welcome Campaign Director, says:

We’re asking everyone to join us in Warm Welcome Week, to raise awareness so more people can find a place of belonging and connection close to home and by encouraging more community spaces to become Warm Welcome Spaces. Everyone can get involved; whether you simply pop on an old orange bobble hat or get creative with craft or cooking, together we will chase away the blues. In Warm Welcome Week, we will create a surge of warmth and positivity in the coldest week of the coldest month.”

Councillor Sarah Chambers, Cabinet Member for Cost of Living, Equalities and Communities, said:

Warm Welcome Spaces are more than just a refuge from the cold; they are places where people can connect, share stories, and find comfort in community. Warm Welcome Week is a fantastic opportunity to brighten up the darkest time of year and remind everyone that no one should face these challenges alone. By joining together in wearing warm colours and opening our doors to neighbours, we can turn Blue Monday into something truly uplifting and inspiring”

You can find out more about the Warm Welcome Hubs as well as a range of other cost of living support on the Community Action Derby Webpage