.png)
After 13 years as a freelancer, I found a unique opportunity: a job combining arts and homelessness in my hometown. When I became Director of the Old Fire Station in 2011, the organization lacked a bank account but had an extraordinary resource: the Old Fire Station building. Oxford City Council’s visionary decision to house an arts centre alongside Crisis, a homeless charity, led to the creation of the Old Fire Station Arts Centre.
I had no prior experience running a venue. We had six months of revenue, no staff, and needed financial support. Fortunately, CAF Venturesome took a leap of faith, loaning us up to £115K, guaranteed by the City Council—a risk that ultimately paid off within 3 years. We clarified our purpose early on: to create a space where people could be themselves, whether they came for a show, a class, or assistance with homelessness. Everyone is welcome.
Building the team was exciting. I learned that if you focus on relationships, the programme and money will follow. There was a lot of trust flowing around the place. We saw risk as an opportunity rather than something to be frightened of. If the idea is brilliant you can solve all the administrative issues getting in the way of making it happen !
We needed to be a place that people loved. Theatre and community groups began using our space, often at little or no cost, bringing diverse audiences who felt at home. We focused on collaboration rather than complicated contracts with Crisis, aiming for mutual success.
Our relationship with users was framed as “How can you help us?” rather than “How can we help you?” We engaged volunteers, artists, and audiences without labeling them as homeless.
Later, we partnered with Damascus Rose Kitchen to run our café. While risky and initially unprofitable, it allowed them to support refugee women while providing us with quality food.
We maintain positive relationships with key organizations like the University and NHS. Our collaborations include projects around social prescribing and mental health, and the Oxford Marmalade festival has grown significantly, promoting local groups.
The challenge remains to convert the initial energy of start-ups into sustainability. We now prioritise quality over growth.
Core funding to supplement traded income
It is naive to think social enterprises can deliver all the social benefits on a purely commercial basis. We need core funding in order to have time to think, be imaginative and creative. Currently we run on 30% income from trading and 70% grants and project funding. That being said, having to make money through trading can be energising, creative and make us quick on our feet, particularly if it is motivated by a strong purpose.
We need to tackle equality and social justice
There are some big knotty issues for the whole voluntary/community sector around class and race. The way in which organisations approach who they trade with, trust and invest in tends to favour the people who are like themselves. It’s easier. We need to approach these issues on a structural basis rather than a personal basis. We need to go beyond EDI and unconscious bias training to structurally shift things so that people with less power are getting access to levers of economic well being. The only way we can change that is if we decide that is an issue we want to do something about.
Accountability and measuring success
Funding accountabilities are often passed down the line from central government to local or regional institutions to bigger charities and finally to the grassroots. There is still a preoccupation with accountability that undermines the work. Asking people to fill in forms about loneliness and collecting lots of tick box numbers is not rigorous evaluation or research its extracting data for its own sake. Can we say ‘Tell us what you have learned’? rather than insist on KPIs that make people work for targets that take them away from their core purpose? The way you set up accountabilities affects how the work is done.
Collectivise and embrace risk
Local governments and funders can choose to take risks with buildings, money, connections. That is how you get creative projects going and make the world a better place. Oxford City Council did that with the Old Fire Station. It could have gone wrong. It was an amazing thing to do - and its benefits ripple far and wide. Businesses take risks all the time. Starting Virgin media took risks. Allowing Flo’s to open, to found Makespace and other projects have all been risks taken by local authorities. It took a risk for us to house the Damascus Rose Kitchen. If the idea is good, and the people around the idea are good - give them what they need to get going!
This case study is part of the 'Community wealth building: big conversations' project. These case studies are in the voice of the people who gave them. They seek to honestly present their successes, as well as the challenges of trying to build a more just, sustainable economy and community. We encourage conversation - so if you want to get in touch and talk more to any of the groups, please do.
.png){kind=small}