The Welcome

The Welcome Open Monday - Friday 9am - 2pm for breakfasts, meals and snacks, or just a coffee

A local charity providing a safe space to access the basics in housing, healthcare, education, employment and nutritious food for disadvantaged individuals and families.

The Cubs from Knutsford Scout Group have been busy raising money to buy toys for less-privileged children as part of the...
19/12/2025

The Cubs from Knutsford Scout Group have been busy raising money to buy toys for less-privileged children as part of their Money Skills and Community Impact badge

They earned their money by doing chores, then went on a special trip last week to choose toys to donate to The Welcome

The toys were handed over to Simon Carin, who shared with the Cubs how The Welcome supports the local community and how these toys will be passed on to children who may otherwise have gone without this Christmas

We’re so grateful to the Cubs for their kindness. What a brilliant example of young people making a real difference ❤️

Christmas cheer was in full swing at our tots party yesterday! 🥳A huge thank you to NG Bailey for providing a fabulous S...
18/12/2025

Christmas cheer was in full swing at our tots party yesterday! 🥳

A huge thank you to NG Bailey for providing a fabulous Santa’s Grotto, the little ones love it! 🎅

We’ve had an overwhelming response to our pantomime trip. Thank you so much to everyone who applied! 💙Due to limited ti...
18/12/2025

We’ve had an overwhelming response to our pantomime trip. Thank you so much to everyone who applied! 💙

Due to limited ticket numbers, we’ve had to prioritise places and unfortunately haven’t been able to offer tickets to everyone this time. Tickets have been allocated to those who attend our groups and use the cafe on a regular basis.

Emails have now been sent to everyone who has been offered tickets. If you haven’t been successful on this occasion, you have been added to our waiting list and we’ll be in touch if any cancellations come up 👍

Our Christmas lunch at The Welcome today was absolutely delicious and very generously funded by Pete from Pulse of Perfu...
17/12/2025

Our Christmas lunch at The Welcome today was absolutely delicious and very generously funded by Pete from Pulse of Perfumery 😋

All of our guests were also treated to lovely perfume gifts, along with a celebratory glass of fizz to add a little festive sparkle ✨

But of course, the afternoon wouldn’t be complete without a few games of bingo! The top prize, an air fryer kindly donated by Great Places Housing, was won by Maggie 🥳

Great Places Housing Group

A huge thank you to The Toft Taverners (The Tavs) and Toft Cricket Club ☺️ The Tavs are fantastic supporters of The Welc...
17/12/2025

A huge thank you to The Toft Taverners (The Tavs) and Toft Cricket Club ☺️

The Tavs are fantastic supporters of The Welcome, raising funds for our community by playing every Thursday night throughout the season. And this year, dedicating their Christmas Lunch to The Welcome… and what a celebration it was.

All 15 of The Tav volunteers went above and beyond, providing a taxi service to collect guests who needed a lift. On arrival, guests were welcomed with a drink, followed by a full Christmas lunch with all the trimmings, prepared by The Welcome and served by The Tavs.

There was wonderful entertainment from Paul Ritchie and Carol, a festive carol sing-along led by The Tavs and a visit from Santa, who delivered a gift to every guest 🎁

A special thank you to Paul Raffo (The Tavs Chairman) and Mark Varley (The Tavs Secretary) for their tireless work behind the scenes and Toft Cricket Club for hosting

The afternoon was filled with joy, laughter, singing and dancing and The Tavs made sure everyone left with a day to remember 🥳

We held a lovely wreath making workshop today A couple of the beautiful creations shown below ✨
16/12/2025

We held a lovely wreath making workshop today

A couple of the beautiful creations shown below ✨

The team enjoyed a cheeky little get-together to celebrate Christmas! ✨Lots of laughs, good company and a lovely chance ...
16/12/2025

The team enjoyed a cheeky little get-together to celebrate Christmas! ✨

Lots of laughs, good company and a lovely chance to spend some time together before the Christmas break 🎅

We have a couple of spaces left on our Christmas Wreath Workshop on the 16th Dec… Do email Sarah if you would like to co...
15/12/2025

We have a couple of spaces left on our Christmas Wreath Workshop on the 16th Dec…

Do email Sarah if you would like to come along 👍
…

Do you fancy making your own Christmas wreath? 🤔

Join us for our Wreath Making Workshop on Tuesday 16th, from 12.30pm to 2.30pm!

We only have 10 places available, so if you’d like to come along and get creative, please book your spot by emailing Sarah at:

Sarah.pownall@thewelcome.org.uk

We’d love to see you there! ✨

As we race towards Christmas, we just wanted to make you aware of our opening hours over the festive period🎅We’ll be clo...
15/12/2025

As we race towards Christmas, we just wanted to make you aware of our opening hours over the festive period🎅

We’ll be closing at lunchtime on Christmas Eve and reopening on Monday 5th January 👍

Thank you for all your support this year, we’re looking forward to welcoming you back to The Welcome in the New Year!

❤️

We’d like to give a big shout-out and a huge thank you to Detaljer for their generous donation of the most delicious cin...
12/12/2025

We’d like to give a big shout-out and a huge thank you to Detaljer for their generous donation of the most delicious cinnamon buns! 😋

They were an absolute treat ❤️

Thank you so much for supporting our community!

Do you fancy making your own Christmas wreath? 🤔Join us for our Wreath Making Workshop on Tuesday 16th, from 12.30pm to ...
12/12/2025

Do you fancy making your own Christmas wreath? 🤔

Join us for our Wreath Making Workshop on Tuesday 16th, from 12.30pm to 2.30pm!

We only have 10 places available, so if you’d like to come along and get creative, please book your spot by emailing Sarah at:

Sarah.pownall@thewelcome.org.uk

We’d love to see you there! ✨

We’re getting ready for a fun-filled festive party for the children... and we can’t wait! ✨Expect a brilliant mix of Chr...
11/12/2025

We’re getting ready for a fun-filled festive party for the children... and we can’t wait! ✨

Expect a brilliant mix of Christmas activities, including a professional entertainer, disco, karaoke and plenty more!
(We’ve even heard a certain Elf on the Shelf might make an appearance… but shhh! 🤫)

📅 Tuesday 23rd December
⏰ 12pm – 2pm

If you’d like to register a place, please email Sarah with your child’s name and age:

Sarah.pownall@thewelcome.org.uk

HO HO HO - Merry Christmas!!!🤶

Address

147 Longridge
Knutsford
WA168PD

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 3pm
Tuesday 9am - 3pm
Wednesday 9am - 3pm
Thursday 9am - 3pm
Friday 9am - 3pm

Telephone

+441565750905

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Our Story

The Welcome was founded in 1995 and over the years has grown into a fully functioning Community Centre offering a wide range of activities, services and support to the people of Longridge and Shaw Heath and surrounding areas. The Welcome is open to all members of the local community including young children, teenagers, busy parents and the elderly.

We offer affordable, good quality, home cooked meals from our cafe and provide a variety of free and great value activities to suit a range of age groups and interests. The Welcome is a perfect example of what has become known as the Big Society, and in 2011 was awarded the Prime Minister’s Big Society Award. The community comes together at The Welcome, there’s a wonderful spirit, with most of the time and effort being put in by committed volunteers. Without their contribution, The Welcome could not function. In 2013, The Welcome received the Queen's Award for Volunteers.

Our funding currently comes from a mixture of supportive individuals, local businesses, charitable trusts and local government programme support. The Welcome is very grateful for the support it receives from the local MP, Ester McVey, and our Patron, George Osborne (formerly the Chancellor of the Exchequer).

The Welcome (Knutsford) is a Company guaranteed by Shares, and is a registered Charity no 1142084. The Welcome is run day to day by our Centre Manager Sarah Riley who has over 14 years experience in helping individuals in communities and being involved in social action. Our café manager Dave Burgess runs our kitchen so that it continues to provide good quality, reasonably priced food and drink to attract everyone in the community. Sarah Pownell is our community support worker and responsible for co-ordinating our volunteers. The work of The Welcome is overseen by a Board of Trustees which consists of Pete Bowler (Secretary), Anila Khalid, John Kinney (Treasurer), Christina Lees-Jones, Rev Sue Swires, Dr Roz Tavernor and Gill Weeks (Chair).