With your help and support, we can continue supporting the many guests of the Gatehouse.
How You Can Help
- Simply book your next holiday with Charitable Travel and tell us you want to support Homeless People and The Oxford Churches (Gatehouse). The charity will then benefit from the free donation you can make as part of the booking process. To read more about how this works, head to our ‘About Us‘ page.
- If you want to make a donation to Homeless People and The Oxford Churches (Gatehouse) and you are not booking a holiday, click here to visit their website.
- Visit https://oxfordgatehouse.org/ to sign up to newsletters, and follow the Homeless People and The Oxford Churches (Gatehouse) social media pages and help spread the word.
How You Can Help
- Simply book your next holiday with Charitable Travel and tell us you want to support Homeless People and The Oxford Churches (Gatehouse). The charity will then benefit from the free donation you can make as part of the booking process. To read more about how this works, head to our ‘About Us‘ page.
- If you want to make a donation to Homeless People and The Oxford Churches (Gatehouse) and you are not booking a holiday, click here to visit their website.
- Visit https://oxfordgatehouse.org/ to sign up to newsletters, and follow the Homeless People and The Oxford Churches (Gatehouse) social media pages and help spread the word.
Sanctuary now, support for the future
The Gatehouse has been supporting Oxford’s homeless community since 1988. We now offer a wide range of free services and activities to adults who are homeless, vulnerably housed, on low or no income or simply looking for company and community from our drop-in community centre in central Oxford.
We operate on an open-door basis, which means that everyone is welcome, and there is no need to prove that you are registered as homeless or have a local connection in order to access our support.
Our guests and the services we provide
There can be many barriers and inequalities faced by those who come to the Gatehouse. We welcome homeless and vulnerable service users, who we call guests, and provide a place where companionship, dignity, and refreshment can be found in a warm, safe and therapeutic environment.
Our current services include a daily drop-in community centre/café, provision of other basic practical support (e.g. clothes, sleeping bags), therapeutic workshops, shower provision, bespoke one-to-one support from our Casework Team, a Counselling Service, and a Lived Experience Advisory Forum.
We offer practical support in reducing inequalities, isolation, and disadvantage and are dedicated to supporting individuals to gain and retain housing and to reducing and addressing inequalities and barriers in health, education, employment, and well-being.
Our guests and the services we provide
There can be many barriers and inequalities faced by those who come to the Gatehouse. We welcome homeless and vulnerable service users, who we call guests, and provide a place where companionship, dignity, and refreshment can be found in a warm, safe and therapeutic environment.
Our current services include a daily drop-in community centre/café, provision of other basic practical support (e.g. clothes, sleeping bags), therapeutic workshops, shower provision, bespoke one-to-one support from our Casework Team, a Counselling Service, and a Lived Experience Advisory Forum.
We offer practical support in reducing inequalities, isolation, and disadvantage and are dedicated to supporting individuals to gain and retain housing and to reducing and addressing inequalities and barriers in health, education, employment, and well-being.
The Gatehouse also champions the amplification of lived experience voices, opportunity, and progression. In this way, we seek to impact on and influence service change both internally and externally.
We seek to empower guests, providing opportunities for them to change their own lives. Our longer term aim is to help guests to achieve independence, so that they no longer need our support. To do this the Gatehouse builds service provision around the whole person and their personal needs.
Read more about our services here: https://oxfordgatehouse.org/services-activities
Read more about other ways you can support the Gatehouse here: https://oxfordgatehouse.org/support-us
The Gatehouse also champions the amplification of lived experience voices, opportunity, and progression. In this way, we seek to impact on and influence service change both internally and externally.
We seek to empower guests, providing opportunities for them to change their own lives. Our longer term aim is to help guests to achieve independence, so that they no longer need our support. To do this the Gatehouse builds service provision around the whole person and their personal needs.
Read more about our services here: https://oxfordgatehouse.org/services-activities
Read more about other ways you can support the Gatehouse here: https://oxfordgatehouse.org/support-us
Testimonials
In 2022 there were over 500 beneficiaries to our service and upwards of 10,000 meals provided. Our busiest week saw 258 visits to our community centre and 2,309 items of clothing were delivered to our guests in need. We worked alongside 260 frontline volunteers who provided an astonishing 20,000 volunteer hours across the year. Over 4,500 jacket potatoes were served using a massive 1,200 tins of baked beans!
Below are some snippets of our work carried out in 2022.
Client 1 had been long term homeless in the Oxfordshire area and had been known to our service on-and-off for a few years. The client was very anxious when first meeting their caseworker as they had been living outside for so long and didn’t know whether they could adapt to living in a property. The caseworker worked with the client to explore different housing options and set up meetings with housing providers. At first, none of the options seemed to be a good fit but eventually a provider who offered a self-contained flat and 24-hour warden was identified. The client moved in successfully and is being supported with organising benefits.
Client 2 was referred to us by Adult Social Care at a local hospital. The client was in poverty and was unable to be discharged from hospital without the means to store and cook food. The Gatehouse was able to fund a fridge and microwave, which were delivered to the patient’s home. The patient was discharged once the delivery was made.
Client 3 had a broken fixture on their washing machine and didn’t have the funds to get it fixed. The Gatehouse organised an engineer to assess the problem, find a part and replace it.
Client 4 was a rough sleeper who fled their birth country over 20 years ago, due to the risks they faced there. This client had lived in destitution in UK, unable to secure legal work and relying on local charities for food provision. With casework support, the client was able to secure funding to gain legal support with their status in UK. As a result of the subsequent decision in the client’s favour, the client has been able to secure benefits and accommodation and is now seeking work.
With your help and support, we can continue supporting the many guests of the Gatehouse.
Get in touch
Homeless People and The Oxford Churches (Gatehouse), St Giles Parish Rooms, 10 Woodstock Road, Oxford, OX2 6HT
Registered charity number 1002741.
by net effect