I have set a login welcome page and I arrive there if i use the .com/wp-admin page to login as a test member, but if I use the standard sidebar login widget it keeps me on the same page but I want members to arrive at the welcome page, can you please advise how best to set up a login page and/or widget to achieve this? Thanks! 
Login page set, people not reaching that page via login widget
The Pro version of s2Member comes with a widget that does what you want.