Oasis Community Housing

Charity Details

Full Name: Oasis Community Housing Ltd
Field: Community Services
Founded: 1985
Headquarters: Gateshead, NE8 1EB
Charity No.: 1107554

History and Activities

Aquila Housing and Oasis were launched in 1984 and 1985 respectively. The Aquila Housing Association was founded by 7 university students in Newcastle who successfully campaigned to raise funds to open Durham Road House as a hub to tackle poverty, deprivation and homelessness, particularly of young women in the city. Meanwhile, many miles away in London, Steve Chalke MBE (b.1955), a Baptist Minister and a social activist, launched Oasis. Oasis was a bold vision for an organisation which would work alongside churches in economically deprived communities to found a school, a hostel and a hospital. Oasis’s first hostel was opened in 1990 at Peckham. Both Aquila and Oasis thrived with the continual support of philanthropy, bold outreach strategies and the careful management of projects. In 2014, the two organisations combined to better serve local communities and tackle national issues.

The core aim of the charity is to tackle homelessness. Oasis Aquila does this by delivering projects in 4 key areas which cumulatively support over 1,000 people. Areas of support include; offering supported housing, providing crisis services, delivering employability programmes and supporting victims of domestic abuse. The charity is part of the Oasis family of charities which operates a model of federated independent regional charities.

In 2017 Oasis Aquila managed a diverse range of projects covering education, housing, health care and youth and community work. One of these is the Oasis Aquila Help to Rent Scheme, which offers support to individuals, couples and families at risk of homelessness, to access housing in the private rented sector by providing a bond deposit. The charity also runs a letting agency with a portfolio of 23 properties, as a social enterprise offering affordable tenancies.

The charity supports single mothers and their children who are often, as a result of complex social problems, acutely in need of housing. Recognising that stability and security are critical for children, the charity run Elizabeth House, providing supported accommodation to young mothers and their dependents. In the same vein, the charity founded the Karis Project which provides supported tenancies to young women aged 16-25. Of whom, 55% have suffered domestic abuse and 44% were in rent arrears through not understanding how the housing benefit system works.

Over £1 million of the charity’s £2,484,114 income is derived from subsidised rental income on the properties they own or manage. However, the charity also receives a great deal of grant funding which in 2017 totalled £625,195. In the same year, the Big Lottery Fund (BLF) provided grants worth £308,447 to support 4 different projects including; Helping Through Crisis, Fulfilling Lives, Reaching Communities and Talen Match. BLF also provided funds through two partnership projects which were Wise Group and ‘Moving on Tyne & Wear’. Oasis Aquila has received funding from a broad range of organisations, including but not limited to; the Henry Smith Fund (£30,000), Virgin Money Foundation (£46,940), Millhouses Charitable Trust (£50,000), Changing Lives (£44,604), The William Leech Charity (£7,000) and Comic Relief (£18,024).

Vital Statistics (year to 31/12/2017)

Website
https://oasisaquilahousing.org/

References