Run away and shelter at the welfare centre (4)
I believe the answer is:
flee
'run away' is the definition.
(to flee is to run away)
'shelter at the welfare centre' is the wordplay.
'shelter' becomes 'lee' (as in lee side, the side sheltered from wind).
'at' says to put letters next to each other (I've seen this in other clues).
'centre' means to look at the middle letters.
The centre of 'welfare' is 'f'.
'lee' after 'f' is 'FLEE'.
'and' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for flee that I've seen before include "Turn tail" , "retreat" , "Take to one's heels" , "Maybe escape" , "head for the hills" .)