I started 2025 in a very negative frame of mind, which came through in my blog post last month. I’m happy to say the dour mood has passed. I’m listening to less depressing news. I’m going for a morning cold water swim as often as I can. And I’m feeling much more positive generally.
Last month, from Blue Monday on 20 January, I was involved in staging Warm Welcome Week for the @Warm Welcome Campaign. We chased the blues away with a surge of colour in pink, purple, orange and red and the response from Warm Welcome Spaces up and down the country was astounding.
We had hundreds of posts shared on social media throughout the week with so many cheery pictures of people in their brightest colours, gathering for cake and cups of tea and coffee, warming soups, games, crafts, conversation and so much more. It was a fantastic celebration of all that the Warm Welcome Campaign does, bringing people together in warm, welcoming and importantly free spaces to foster connection and support each other through the winter.
We had a mention of the Warm Welcome Campaign in the House of Lords; Gordon Brown visited a Warm Welcome Space in his hometown of Kirkcaldy; and the campaign featured on BBC Bristol, BBC Points West TV news, ITV News, Sky News, in the Mirror newspaper and across the regional press.
The Warm Welcome Campaign is making a positive difference to so many people right across the UK. There are now more than 5,160 registered Warm Welcome Spaces in the country, with more joining the campaign every day. Many of them will remain open throughout the year, as they did last year, after finding that people initially come for the warmth, then stay for the welcome. The campaign is fostering a more connected Britain, and it’s a joy to be part of it.
Separately, and in a few pockets of time at the end of a day, I’m working with the Creative Cities Convention which this year will be held in Bradford, City of Culture 2025.
Creative Cities Convention is the only conference for people working in TV, film and digital media that is regularly held outside London and we want to make a real difference to the people of Bradford and West Yorkshire, leaving them with tangible opportunities in the creative industries where they live, without having to consider a move to London to get into their chosen industry.
We’ve already got BBC director general Tim Davie signed up to speak and Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin. The fantastic Mobeen Azhar will host the conference, drawing on his own West Yorkshire roots and his passion for nurturing creative talent outside of London. There are practical skills sessions planned plus, of course, we’re hoping for some great Asian food from the hostelries of Bradford. What’s not to love? Visit the CCC website for more details.
In other news
Debate has been raging in an email forum I’m part of for people who work in campaigning comms about whether the organisations we work for should leave X (Twitter) or not.
Some days, I’m all for leaving and resent contributing to anything linked to Elon Musk. At others I can see that there is still an audience on X for our campaigns, and I’m persuaded by arguments that the community that exists there is still Twitter (one emailer said that X is simply the highjacked technical platform). These proponents of staying say that Twitter, the community of like-minded souls, remains a powerful global network for good causes.
So, I’m on the fence. People point out that alternative platforms such as Bluesky, which I’ve found a nice place to be in the few times I’ve had time to dwell there, is equally at risk of future venture capital takeover and general pollution of the atmosphere with points of view that we don’t necessarily share.
It’s all a far cry from Clay Shirky, if anyone remembers him, and his book Here Comes Everybody: The Power of Organising without Organisations, when the possible outcomes of global connection and organising felt more positive. But that was 2008, and the world was quite different back then.
That’s it for this month. See you in March.
Lucy Rouse PR Blog 