Karima Brooke
At the time of writing, Oxford Meeting, via our charitable arm OxFAP, has given out over £14,000, and judging by the current rate of spending this is likely to exceed £18,000 by the end of March – though nothing is predictable! Notable one-off donations in January were from families and friends who decided to support OxFAP rather than giving each other Christmas presents.
I hope this is a trend – one of my daughters set up a Just Giving page so that, instead of birthday presents, people can give for the triathalon challenge she’s doing for a local hospice. In the past, we have had couples who have asked their guests to donate to OxFAP instead of wedding presents.
It would be easy to get discouraged about the sheer scale of unmet needs in our city, county, and country, but I try to remember that many of the applications to us represent progress for an individual. Some examples:
- The young Afghan refugee to whom we gave gym membership and sports clothes, looking ahead to socialising with friends at the gym and improving his fitness.
- Applications for winter clothes for new residents in a half-way supported accommodation – they are now no longer street-homeless. And those whose places they’ve taken in this project have moved on to independent living.
- The requests for £90 Debt Relief Orders, which usually come to us through Oxford’s Citizens Advice Bureau, mean considerable relief from the worry of mounting debts and that those applicants are getting good money advice.
At our last committee meeting we had two interesting outside speakers: Elaine from Thames Valley Partnership (which works with victims of violence, particularly domestic violence) and Vania, from the Oxfordshire Domestic Abuse Service.
Especially interesting and relevant was their explanation of the interaction of Domestic Abuse and the issue of No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF). So, a woman’s immigration status means that they have NRPF and cannot find refuge for themselves and their children in a women’s refuge.
On the committee, we are continuing to look at how and in what circumstances we should propose applicants buy second-hand goods, for example, from Emmaus. This could make our money go further, but we are looking at the practicalities of this, and recipient sensitivities.
I am also concerned about what to say to those caseworkers whose clients live elsewhere (we CAN help people to move out, and recently Bicester has housed refugees and others formerly living in Oxford, so we’ve helped there).
I’m wondering if perhaps at an Area Meeting level, we could make a list of local charities, both Quaker and other, that are known to us across the Area Meeting area and a bit beyond e.g. Banbury? Then when I have to say ‘I’m sorry, you’re outside our catchment area’ I could at least make some suggestions!
Any questions or comments please contact me at karimabrooke.oxfap@hotmail.com
Karima Brooke, Convenor of OxFAP.