In January, Helen Brown and Reuben Watt brought a motion to the URC Youth Assembly encouraging churches to support the Warm Spaces initiative.
“I think for me the idea came because I’m very conscious that we’re all affected by the rising cost of living, particularly through the cold winter and was so encouraged to see the church I’m a member of join in with this, even though they’re not huge by any means, and it prompted me to want to promote the general ethos of the initiative and get others thinking about it.” Helen Brown
The URC Youth assembly is an annual gathering of 14-25 year olds from across England, Scotland and Wales in order to explore issues and topics related to Church, society and life and to enjoy a time of worship, fun and fellowship with each other. It plays a significant role in enabling young people to have their voices heard throughout the whole denomination and beyond, as it gives young people associated with the URC the opportunity to bring the issues which matter most to them before the Youth Assembly to discuss and make decisions about.
The Warm Spaces resolution was passed by consensus and prompted the following URC Youth’s statement on behalf of Youth Assembly 2023:
“URC Youth assembly recognises the importance of Warm Spaces and commends the URC buildings which have already signed up for this initiative. URC Youth assembly encourages churches who are not currently a part of this initiative to explore the possibility of opening their buildings as a Warm Space, or to support or collaborate with other local churches and community organisations that are involved in this scheme.“
Get Involved
To find out what is happening near you, visit: Warm Spaces
If your church is considering being part of the scheme, the following resources may be helpful:
- Warm Welcome Scheme
- Allerton URC Warm Space
- Wooler Warmer Hub
- Palmers Green URC Warm Space
- St Paul’s URC Croydon Warm Space
- Moldgreen URC Warm Space
- Port Sunlight Warm Space
- Bingley URC Warm Space
- Woking URC Warm Space
- Guisborough URC Warm Space
To find out more about the URC Youth Assembly: 2023 Youth Assembly