Oxford Hub April Round-Up
April has flown by, and the team has been reflecting on all of the new learning and exciting opportunities coming up at Oxford Hub. Read on for a whistle-stop recap of some of the things we’ve been up to in the past few weeks.
Marmalade
From 5th to 9th April, three enquiries were made at the annual Marmalade conference, centred around three big questions:
- How can we design and deliver services that really work for people?
- How can we share and shift power?
- How can we measure impact in more meaningful ways?
The whole team enjoyed participating in a week of thought-provoking talks, new connections and inspiring discussions. Highlights included Spoken word poetry about shifting power from Rawz, local hip hop artist and Resident Sound Artist at St John’s College, Oxford; stories from our Parent Advocates about drawing on their own experiences to support other local parents to thrive; learning about alternative ways of doing things, locally and beyond, including hearing from Oxfordshire Discovery College, the Lived Experience Advisory Forum, Children Heard and Seen, SIGNAL, and many more.
The best news is that Marmalade will continue throughout the year. Join the Marmalade newsletter to hear about what’s next!
Easter Schools
Lots of fun was had during the school holidays at the Easter School, organised in partnership with Orchard Meadow and Pegasus Primary schools and the local Police Community Support Officers. There were loads of different activities, including dodgeball, an inflatable obstacle course, golf, and planting seeds!
This is part of making sure children locally have access to extra-curricular activities and opportunities to have fun, complementing our Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring programme. Applications to mentor a child in your community on a regular basis are still open, so it’s not too late to get involved! Head to our website for more information about becoming a volunteer Big Sibling and to apply.
Social Enterprise Awards Launch at Oxford University for students and staff
We’re excited to have the next round of Social Enterprise Awards open again for the summer term! Together with University of Oxford’s Research Services, the Social Enterprise Awards offer Oxford University staff and students the opportunity to test their ideas and start-up social impact projects for the benefit of the Oxford community. Our team at Oxford Hub provides seed funding and structured support to make those ideas a reality.
The awards have enabled individuals and teams to take action and make the world a better place. Since 2013, we have supported over 40 different ventures through the Social Enterprise Awards — from a community cafe to a soap recycling enterprise. You can find examples of previous award winners below, as well as plenty of in-depth case studies on Enterprising Oxford’s website and our blog. For more information and application materials, head to our website — the deadline for applications is 3 June (Friday of Trinity Term week 6).
We’re also looking forward to our next Social Action Lab which will be focusing on fundraising skills. This is an opportunity for students to learn more about the skills needed for social impact projects. This Lab will be in collaboration with local charity Yellow Submarine and it will take place on May 13th — 15th. Email malak@oxfordhub.org to find out more or sign up via this google form.
15th Birthday preparations
2022 marks 15 years since the birth of Oxford Hub, and we’re embarking on a time of celebration and reflection!
We’ll be celebrating our roots — and our ongoing work — in student volunteering with an exhibition in collaboration with Oxford SU. Ahead of the exhibition, which will be running from 30th May — 5th June, our wonderful student support team have been busy organising events around the city including a creative writing workshop exploring the theme of ‘Bridging Town and Gown’ at the Museum of Oxford on 10th May, a creative workshop on Monday 16th May which will see students and residents create collages together to exhibit, led by local artist Miranda Millward, and a collaborative pencil drawing activity on Tuesday 24th May at our office in Little Clarendon St. Visit our Eventbrite page to book your spot, and be sure to follow us for updates ahead of the exhibition at the end of this month.
Our growing team!
We’ve had two new members join us this month! We’re excited to have Ulfat join us as Student Support Officer, and Donna as Community Participation Manager in the growing Oxford Hub staff team.
Ulfat will be working on our Scholar programme, supporting students from low-income households to get involved in community volunteering. She will also be working with students on our Schools Plus programme who are tutoring local school children referred by schools.
Donna will be working with the Parent Power team, empowering parents to support each other; placing trustees with lived experience on charity trustee boards; and experimenting with more participatory approaches to grantmaking, where local people decide which local projects get funded.
Stay tuned for updates on the amazing work they will be doing with the Hub!
