All the resources to run meals

• We’ll provide a leader handbook stuffed full of information designed to support you in not only launching, but also growing your group. Some of the many useful resources it includes are:

• Advice on finding the perfect home for your Local Welcome group

• Guidance for connecting with local partners (e.g. refugee support charities)

• A catalogue of tried and tested Local Welcome recipes, including some submitted by other groups!

• Promotional materials for your group (e.g. posters)

• We’ll send a starter kit of cooking equipment to your group ready for your first meal

Staff support to keep things running smoothly, safely and securely

• We’ll provide you with on-call support whenever you’re running a meal

• We’ll set up and maintain digital systems to help your group run smoothly:

  • A Soldo (pre-paid) card for buying ingredients for your meal

  • Meal booking forms

  • A booking page for your group’s meals which we’ll update monthly

  • Monthly invitation emails to your group’s mailing list (plus confirmation and reminder emails/SMS)

• We’ll review feedback from you and your group members, and debrief your meals monthly. We’ll use this feedback to support you in growing your group and helping you make your meals as smooth running and magical as possible.

• We’ll provide you and all other leaders with our bespoke safeguarding training, and organise all your DBS checks

• We’ll cover your group with our insurance and associated policies (e.g. risk assessments etc.)

Belonging and connections within a national movement

• Weekly leader check-ins with a member of the Local Welcome staff team

• Weeknotes to help keep you in the loop with everything going on at Local Welcome, and for the team to share openly with leaders about how it’s spending its support time

• Access to a Local Welcome National WhatsApp group where you can connect with other leaders and exchange advice

Essential Commitments

• Completing a DBS check and our online safeguarding training (plus committing to identifying and reporting and safeguarding concerns that arise at meals)

• Committing 4-6 hours a month - 4 hours per meal and up to 2 hours for prep before and sharing feedback afterwards (it’s okay if you can’t commit to running a monthly meal). Meals run on the first Saturday or Sunday on the month.

• Remaining in touch with the Local Welcome team (this is primarily via WhatsApp) on group matters - e.g. reporting any safety incidents

• Supporting your group with monthly planning - e.g. ‘what are we going to cook this month?’

• Helping submit feedback to Local Welcome after each meal

(Ideal) Extra Contributions

Our leaders find it works best when they share these tasks between themselves, so everyone can play to their own strengths:

• Connecting with local partners and attending their services to help invite people to meals (we find this works best!) - e.g. by attending a local refugee support drop-in centre

• Taking a lead on venue relationships (we find this works best when it’s managed locally)

• Engaging with your group’s community to help it grow - e.g. by inviting people to sign up as members, encouraging them to donate if they can afford to

• Taking photos at meals, gathering photo consent for them, and sharing them with Local Welcome

• Opting to be your group’s Soldo (pre-paid) cardholder and leading on organising monthly grocery shops

• Attending weekly leader check-ins

• Connecting with other leaders in our National Leader Whatsapp group

• Contributing to Local Welcome’s fundraising bids for your group

We support teams of leaders in organising donations from your local community through monthly payments. Some of these will be people who want to get involved as a member of your group, others might be people who aren’t time-rich enough to take part, but love the idea and want to support your group.

It’s important to remember that paying a monthly donation is not a requirement to take part in Local Welcome meals. However, we do have a vision to become a member-funded organisation so those who can afford it are encouraged to contribute.

The numbers in more detail:

An average Local Welcome group costs about £300 per month to run:

• £150 on Local costs (£50 food budget, £75 venue hire, and £25 on-call costs)

• £150 on Support costs (Handbook, insurances, safeguarding etc.)

This is why our financial sustainability target for each group is to raise £300 per month through regular donations from members and supporters, where 50% goes on Local costs, and the other 50% on Support costs.

(Note: these are average figures, because venue hire fees vary regionally).

Our aim is to have all groups raising £300 per month in donations from members and supporters after 6-12 months.

The context for this is, to be sustainable, an average group needs to be bringing in £50 for food, £75 for venue, £25 for on-call, and £150 for ongoing support costs.

We won’t expect you to reach £300/month straight away though - your first target is £50/month, and then let’s go from there! We want your group to have the time it needs to grow (after all, impact is important to us), so we’ll cover the additional costs whilst your new group gets up and running.

If you can:

• Find a venue for a launch meal (even if it isn't the right place long-term)

• Find 2 people who are up for being 'on-the-day' leaders with you

• Complete the leader signup process yourself (DBS check, safeguarding training)

• Set up a monthly donation (if you can afford to do so)

Then we will schedule and run a launch meal with you, for which we'd:

• Cover the full costs of the food and venue

• Work with you to plan and prepare for it in the months/weeks running up

• Promote the meal using social media advertising

• Send a member of our team to support you on the day

• Provide a set of Local Welcome equipment to use for the launch meal

Our goal for this launch meal would be to attract enough buzz and momentum to help us recruit a group of longer-term leaders to join you, as well as people who will become future members and supporters of your group so monthly meals can commence!

Please note: as a charity we have limited resources, so we have the final say on what we can support and when.