You may have seen or accessed your local Oasis Hub, but did you know that we have Hubs set up to support our academies and communities across the whole country? The impact our Hub teams are having in the areas we work is powerful, as they have delivered youth projects, violence reduction projects, given advice and guidance, community events, family support, food support and adult education to name some to thousands of people in the last year alone. Let’s take a further look at the impact this is having.

Children and Youth

In 2022 alone, 8101 children and young people accessed youth programmes including targeted mentoring, 40 children's clubs, 32 open access projects, 17 weekly early years sessions, holiday programmes and special one-off events.

Community Hubs ran 45 targeted mentoring projects for students in Oasis academies, to support and encourage them to understand and manage life challenges across a range of needs. From dealing with relationships to essential skills, or even after being victims of crime.

F and a visiting friend were mugged whilst out in the local community. Following the incident F became increasingly angry and anxious and constantly on edge. He reported feeling most stressed at school and on a number of occasions, he became angry and swore at members of staff. Mum also reported that his behaviour at home was becoming increasingly challenging. Although F had been referred for CBT therapy, there was a long waiting list. School felt that the mentoring scheme would really help Finley and after meeting with a youth worker, F agreed to meet with the youth worker on a regular basis.

‘We talked about understanding feelings and emotions. We looked at what Anxiety is and explored coping techniques for managing my Anxiety.’

‘What I have valued the most is the relationship that I have built with my mentor as seeing her would brighten up my day and I would be a lot more chilled after our sessions.’

 

Community Food Projects

Last year Oasis ran 45 community food projects, providing free and affordable food to 5736 people and families – that was a whopping 322,127 meals!

Through Oasis food pantries, community members can get dignified access to food at an affordable price (typically at a £5 per week membership, which provides them with around £30 worth of food!).

However, it’s about more than just providing food, it’s about building relationships and becoming a place where our members feel comfortable and safe, and able to build friendships. We rely on our amazing volunteers to help run these projects and keep the ownership within the community itself.

Emily volunteers at our community food project helping to make up food parcels, she also helps to set up our afternoon café where people can come for a cuppa, chat and something to eat. ‘Being a part of something is the best experience for me, to be needed and wanted is brilliant’

Family Support

In 2022 Oasis Hubs delivered 67 family support projects to 3628 people. These ranged from direct family support to parenting, advocacy, nutrition, housing support, debt advice and family holiday provision.

You may have accessed one of our living room projects; by providing a warm space for families to relax and socialise, we supported people across the country throughout the winter, aiming to chip away at the impact of the cost of living crisis. Many of our living room projects also provided hot meals, generously sourced through local providers.

“We’re really pleased that people have come along each week, and we’re proud of the way we’ve been able to use their feedback to make changes and improvements to how we run, and how we communicate with people about how to use the space. Running the Living Room has enabled us to build stronger relationships with some of our pantry members who come, and it’s also provided new volunteering opportunities to those in the local community.”

Community Events

Following the lockdown procedures of the pandemic, we were pleased to see a return to pre-covid levels in our community events last year. In fact, we were thrilled to have almost 14000 people attend our 82 community events!

These ranged from celebrations of the Platinum Jubilee to Pride events, church events, and summer gatherings.

707 people accessed the Rainbow Trail at Oasis Hub Hull between the 4th to 12th August 2022 which aimed to create space for families to have fun, enjoy themselves, explore family make-up and reflect on how we are all created differently and equally, and all loved. The Rainbow Trail was promoted at Hull Pride, in the parade with a banner saying ‘You are beautifully and wonderfully made’.

If you would like to find out more about your community Hub - take a look at the Hub section of your academy website today or give the school a call to find out more about how to get involved or access support.