Every Person Matters
At Oasis we believe that 'Every Person Matters'; you, your family, your friends and neighbours - both old and young - everyone in your community. It's a belief grounded in our Christian faith.
Help individuals with their specific needs and their whole community will benefit. Which is why what we call our community Hubs
are so successful, and why we're opening several more of them over the next few weeks.
Often developed alongside an Oasis Academy, a Hub is a local expression of Oasis that works with the whole community, providing a range of desperately needed services and facilities.
Our Hub in Enfield Lock, for instance, clearly shows the positive and immediate impact our work has on a community. Working in close partnership with other local agencies and churches, we have seen a 10% decrease in crime and a 14% decrease in anti-social behaviour in the last two years.
At just 19 years of age, Leianne, who grew up in Enfield, is a single mum. In the past she came close to getting a criminal record but, in her own words, her life has been transformed. Leianne now volunteers at the Oasis Youth Centre where she's determined to help her peers as well as the younger people in her community make good choices for their lives. 'I want to help them turn their lives around, to put their heads down at school and get the best out of life.'
Leianne's Story
Leianne Driver has grown up in Enfield. At 14, she left school due to pregnancy and at 15, had her little boy. Now 19, she is taking steps towards a career in youth work, having started volunteering at the local Oasis youth centre, part of our Enfield hub, about two months ago.
She says: "I'm very family oriented. I want to help young people turn their lives around so they can be able to put their heads down in school and get the best out of life. I want them to be able to go out there and get the job they want and to turn around one day and say to their children, 'I've had the best life possible.'"
When she was younger, she didn't enjoy school and used to truant regularly. In an attempt to fight off the boredom, her group of friends would cause trouble on the streets, and if it wasn't for the presence of the Oasis Youth Centre she says she probably would have got into a lot of trouble with the police.
"I started coming to the youth centre because it was something to do in my spare time and it kept me out of trouble, and out of the rain and cold. Then it started getting interesting and I made it a regular thing."
Now Leianne is a young mum with aspirations of being a full-time youth worker, and is planning to take a course in youth work with Oasis. She says it's mainly due to her family that she can do what she does. "It is a hard job when you're young and have to bring up a child, but I have a lot of family that help me out, and without them I think I would pull my hair out!
"I think Oasis is great, the way they started up the Youth Centre and the new Oasis Academy School. It's got a lot more of the young people interested in getting involved in positive activities. The staff are amazing, because they are all young, active, outgoing and up for a laugh. If you need anything they are always there. For example, when my friend needed housing support, one of the youth workers gave him advice and support in how to go about it."
Leianne is just one of many success stories coming out of our community hubs. With your help, we can do more for more people in more communities.
Building on this success, we are planning to open a number of new community Hubs this September; one in Salford, two in Southampton and two in Bristol.
In Bristol, the community of Hengrove has urgent health and social needs, effectively endangering the lives of its residents through insufficient healthcare and education. We're planning to open not only an Oasis Academy, but also various other community transforming projects - including a Healthy Living Centre - to provide some of the essential services this community desperately needs.
Read more in our background document.
Over the coming year we need to raise £150,000 to be able to provide these vital services to some of the country's most deprived and neglected communities. You really can make all the difference.
Will you help us reach our target?