Oasis works in an integrated and holistic way, providing a range of mutually supporting services at a community or neighbourhood level. With our overarching vision for community, we are delighted to share with you some of the most recent updates from Oasis Community Partnerships. 

Healthcare at Hadley

Healthcare is intrinsic to our hub model; by delivering health care at the local and personal level, and breaking down the formal barrier, the likelihood of someone taking their health more seriously increases. One of these projects is with Oasis Hub: Hadley and North Middlesex Hospital A&E. With just a team of two youth workers, they’ve managed to reach over 400 young people in the past four years.

The premise is simple. When a young person suffers a violent injury – often through knife crime – they receive one-on-one support and mentorship from an Oasis youth worker. This not only supports the young person with their own ambitions but massively decreases the likelihood of trying to repay the violence against their perpetrator.

Excitingly, the Hub has just received funding from the Mayor’s office to expand this service from two to six youth workers. Sam Ellis, leader of Oasis Hub Hadley, hopes this will make the project more sustainable but also help bring in more people to the hub community, so it’s not just one-off support. Currently, about 50 percent of people who encounter an Oasis youth worker in A&E get involved in the hub somehow. Sam hopes to see that increase in the future.

Waterloo Healthspace

The environment we live and spend our time in affects our health. In Lambeth, one in three year-six children are not a healthy
weight. Healthspace, a project commissioned by Guys and St Thomas, is making a positive and sustainable change to this issue.
Issues like obesity have to always be approached sensitively and compassionately, and with a bit of fun! As such, the fantastic team, led by David Tchilingirian, has organised cook-outs and fruit and veg stalls with OA Johanna and refreshed break times along with “My Journey Home” at OA Southbank. This innovative programme, led by students, will do an audit of nearby streets to disrupt the food habits after school and find a healthier route home. Through all these initiatives and more, the Healthspace team are on track to engaging 800 people who are, or at high risk of becoming, over a healthy weight.

Empower, equip and enjoy - social isolation programme at Hobmoor

To combat the high levels of social isolation, the team at Oasis Hub: Hobmoor have designed a foundation to encourage local leadership. Musurut Dar, a community support worker, who leads the project describes the spirit in the neighbourhood: “with massive cuts to public services, people can often feel like their neighbourhood has been forgotten about.”

Since the beginning of this year, the hub has seen a massive improvement in community morale since the launch of the
programme. The launch event itself was attended by nearly 100 people! Since then, members of the community launched a
community survey and it turned out that litter was one of the biggest concerns. As such, in the span of the last few weeks, local leaders and volunteers have combined forces to start a litter club (comprised mostly of parents of Hobmoor pupils). To see the community care about living in a safe and clean environment, and take the steps themselves to effect change, is truly spectacular. Andy Brown, leader of Oasis Hub: Hobmoor, said "It’s amazing to see the life-changing work in the academy reach into the community and rise up a generation of leaders."

Beyond the classroom

It takes a talented team of teachers to identify the needs and challenges of every pupil that pass through the Academy’s doors.
In order to be successful, this so often requires effort outside of the school day. As such, Oasis Hub Oldham has launched a
programme to support low-achieving and low-ambition students. As part of project, they have been providing bespoke support.
Whether it’s helping with school work or perhaps working on social and interpersonal skills, the wide range of support this programme is able to offer demonstrates just how important the Hub model is. This project has not only helped counter issues in the classroom but contributed to these pupils’ sense of confidence. In 2018, the project targeted to take on a caseload of 30 young people as well as establish 15 community partners. Both of these targets have been met and set even more ambitiously for 2019. Andrew Smyth, Hub leader in Oldham, believes the success is due to this being a holistic approach to a multi-faceted problem.

Community, competition and cake

Pam Atwal, a Community Support Worker at Oasis Academy Short Heath, has taken the famous bake-off to the local level. It involves a friendly competition between people within the community, many of whom are related to pupils or pupils themselves. The project has been running for just over two years and is on track to reach almost 100 participants.
Pam remarked, “This is about bringing diverse communities together. The majority of people that come along are volunteers.
And for almost everyone who attends, their eyes are opened to how we’re all going through the same thing.”
The community at Oasis Short Heath hopes for more hubs to join bake-off, and of course even more delicious treats!

If you would like more information on any of the stories above, please contact ocp@oasisuk.org. Content courtesy of OCP Newsletter.