Project Update: Welcome Coalition’s Mapping and Evaluating Existing Welcome Spaces and Networks
In December we announced the launch of our project Mapping and Evaluating Existing Welcome Spaces and Networks, as part of the Welcome Coalition and with funding from the Henry Smith Foundation.
Since then, we have been fortunate enough to work with strategic partners including COMPAS, the Good Faith Partnership and the Pickwell Foundation, as well as the Welcome Coalition’s Community of Practice, which includes 73 big and small organisations, to understand the greatest need for this work and to outline a detailed approach to the research. Many of our partners are also carrying out important evaluative work into welcome spaces and services, which we will build upon.
The Aims and Objectives of the Project
In this project, we aim to build a clear national picture of what “welcome” currently looks like across the UK — who’s already doing the work, what support exists for newcomers, where the gaps are and, importantly, what actually works. This will give the Coalition a solid evidence base to shape our strategy and strengthen our collective local welcoming efforts.
Through our consultation with the Community of Practice, we have explored the sector’s need for the mapping survey – which will be going live in the next couple of weeks – and identified the three locations for our ethnographic fieldwork: Bristol, Devon and Renfrewshire (namely Paisley and Linwood).
Creating a National Map of Welcome Spaces
We’ll be building an interactive digital map that shows the full spread of welcome organisations across the UK.
To do that, we are:
- Gathering wider knowledge about existing services through desk research and outreach to grassroots organisations
- Build detail about the provisions on offer through a survey
The final product will be a live, searchable database that will help newcomers find local support, practitioners connect with each other and the wider sector to identify gaps and opportunities for new Spaces or networks.
Understanding what works on the ground
Alongside the national map, we’ll dig deeper into welcome systems in three places (Bristol, Devon, Renfrewshire). This will help us understand not just who is doing the work, but how well different local ecosystems function. We’ll also set up small learning networks across the three areas, so they can share challenges and solutions with one another.
We will be working with peer researchers with lived experience to carry out ethnographic observation in local services, speaking with staff, volunteers, and service users and looking at relationships between organisations and the typical user journey. This part of the work will give us useful insight into what’s helping people feel welcomed, what barriers still exist, and where improvements could make the biggest difference.
Outcomes from this Project
By the end of the project, we aim to have:
- A live, public map and a database of welcome organisations
- A set of best-practice case studies based on lived experience
- A “Welcome Instance Gallery” collecting examples of what works
- An evaluation report with key findings and recommendations
To hear more about this project and other work we’re doing as part of our ‘Accelerating Welcome’ mission area, please contact: beth@neighbourlylab.com