Who we are

Welcome Churches grew out of a church-based work in Derby (England) who were running a Welcome Boxes project to welcome asylum seekers who were dispersed to the city by the Home Office. As asylum seekers arrived in Derby, the church sent volunteers to welcome these new neighbours, bringing a Welcome Box of small gifts as a token of friendship and a first friendly 'hello'. As this work grew and flourished, the vision grew for Welcome Boxes to be a national project. In 2018 Welcome Churches became a charity in its own right and we began to train churches across the UK to use Welcome Boxes to welcome refugees and people seeking asylum as they moved into their locations.  We also set up our national Welcome Network, which functions as a secure online referral system, so that refugees can be referred, or self-refer, to receive a welcome from a local church in their location. This Welcome Network has grown exponentially and now over 1,100 churches UK-wide from many denominations are part of this Network!

Since then, we have vastly developed our training and equipping for churches; it includes training to work in hotels housing people seeking asylum, trauma awareness, good practice in self-care, training in working cross culturally, understanding the asylum system and much more. Our Welcome Plus churches are specifically trained and supported to work proactively, building refugee ministry to be an integral part of their expression of church. We produce resources for churches to use such as The Welcome Course and Wellbeing videos in numerous languages. We are also developing our refugee-facing work through FindYourWelcome.org, empowering refugees to access information in their own languages about life in the UK and to refer themselves for a welcome from a local church.  

We are the largest organisation in the UK helping the Church engage with the increasingly pressing topic of refugees and we continue to equip and support churches as they, in turn, welcome refugees and people seeking asylum in the community around them, and we eagerly work towards our vision of No Refugee Alone being fulfilled

Values

What Welcome Churches believes in

Welcome

Christians are called to love and welcome the stranger, whatever their cultural background. Every church has the privilege and opportunity to welcome and care for refugees and asylum seekers in some way.

Empowerment

Refugees are resilient and creative. We want refugees to grow in their gifting and leadership and churches to benefit from their unique contribution.

Building Community

Churches are well placed to provide community and care for those who have lost homes and family and are recovering from trauma.

Relationship

We value relationships with other organisations, networks and individuals. We help churches connect relationally with partners in their own communities to provide integrated support for refugees.

Religious Freedom

Refugees arriving in the UK should have the freedom and right to explore faith without fear of intimidation or persecution. Churches should be well equipped to help them.

Justice

The Church should be at the forefront of challenging injustices faced by refugees and asylum seekers and fear and prejudice within our wider communities.

Healing

We equip churches to work towards healing for refugees and for communities that can feel divided by immigration issues locally.

Tim Leese

Tim

Tim Leese is our Interim CEO. Tim’s role is to ensure that Welcome Churches does an excellent job of mobilising churches to work together to provide community and friendship for refugees and people seeking asylum. He is passionate about providing opportunity to the most marginalised in society. He enjoys travelling and learning languages, and in my spare time I enjoy playing in a rock band.

Our Trustees

Our Church Engagement Team

Our Church Engagement Team officers are dedicated to working alongside churches across the UK as they extend a local welcome to refugees and those seeking asylum.

Find out more about the Team here.

Our Operations Team

Our Operations Team ensures that our Welcome Network of churches runs smoothly - ensuring oversight of our online referral system good systems, impact, data protection, finances, safeguarding and much more!