Warm Welcome

Thornaby Communities is a group of organisations and individuals whose role is to engage and act as a catalyst for enhancing community interaction, spirit, and pride for the benefit of the local community.

After consultation within the group a project was developed called A Warm Welcome in Thornaby. The idea was to start a social group at Tees Actives Thornaby indoor bowls Club which is centrally located in Thornaby Town Centre and its large social area with associated bowls rinks and physical activity areas was seen as a perfect location to initially run a pilot scheme from May to August 2023

Warm Welcome Project Summary

Activities

Attendees have had free teas and coffees, played bingo, participated in quizzes, played indoor bowls participated in chair-based exercise classes and tested their creative skills whilst participating in sessions delivered by Creative Village whilst homing their cooking skills with demonstrations delivered by Sprouts. Attended workshops on sign language, fraud and scams, safety talks delivered by Cleveland Fire Brigade and Cleveland Police.

Funding

Due to the success of the project Tees Active were able to access funding from Tees Valley Sport (via Sport England) and Thornaby Communities have also been able to obtain funding from Thornaby Town Council which enabled the sessions to continue throughout the Autumn/Winter/Spring period of 2023/24.

Upcoming Events

The session has received further funding from Thornaby Town Council which has guaranteed that it will be delivered throughout the year 2024/25.

Funding Partners

Due to the success of the project Tees Active were able to access funding from Tees Valley Sport (via Sport England) and Thornaby Communities have also been able to obtain funding from Thornaby Town Council which  enabled the sessions to continue throughout the Autumn/Winter/Spring period of 2023/24.

Project Outcomes & Outputs

7000 attendances

Warm Welcome in Thornaby has had over 7000 attendances to date.

73% over 65's

73% of attendees are over the age of 65 (43% are over the age of 75)

53% disabled attendees

53% of attendees are living with a disability.

57% with long-term health condition.

57% are living with a long-term health condition.

Over 200 leisure cards

To date over 200 people have received leisure cards loaded with the Warm Welcome membership.

77% of attendees wanted to meet new people

57% of people attended to combat loneliness.

0 %

% of attendees are over the age of 65

It is a great atmosphere to walk into. Now, it’s my go to place and why I was determined to get out of the house and come today. It has stopped me from being lonely.

Legacy and Future partnerships

Warm Welcome is proving to be an  invaluable hub for community interaction as the project and programme of activities develop there will be more organisations and agencies taking the opportunity to engage with the local community.

Using the Model of Warm Welcome in Thornaby. Tees Active have been able to secure funding from Billingham Town Council  and Billingham Legacy Fund to enable a Billingham Warm Welcome to be delivered in July 2024 for a 6-month trial basis at Billingham Forum.

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