Oxford Community Action

Another case study about Oxford Community Action can be found here in the Owned By Oxford report.

Also see this toolkit produced by OCA in collaboration with Anglia Ruskin University and the University of Greenwich: Empowering inclusion- a toolkit for Black and racially Minoritised led Social Enterprises’

Story of Self

OCA started when the three of us were sitting in the Costa café on Cowley Road in 2018. We were all already involved in community work in different ways. We were talking about how we wanted to set something up that was different, that had its eye on and listened to the community. This was our goal, to create something where it is “we together”.

Then Covid came and we knew lots of people needed help with food- they were struggling. So we decided to start something. We asked the city council for a building but it took too long for them to get back to us and eventually we got a space from a private college on Cowley road and they let us use their space. That was the start of the OCA food bank.

Later we met Emmy from ArkT and told her about us and we moved to ArkT hall to do the Wednesday food bank there. Later we became part of the OX4 Food Crew. We did lots of things in the community: children's holidays activities, food bank, sports and cycling activities, hikes in nature and community research. But it was very hard to fund them and we were unsuccessful with many grants.

We set up OCA Kitchen, our social enterprise for resistance and sustainability. We saw lots of mothers and fathers who knew how to cook- they had the skills. OCA helped them to become professional cooks with training. We pay everyone the Oxford Living Wage. We cater for events from big organisations and private people. All the money flows directly into the community and supports our activities. It is an important way OCA is not reliant on the little, and very rare, grants we get.

In 2023 we created a partnership with the NHS. Through that we were able to take on a new space and open the OCA café on Cowley road. It came full circle, because it's the same building where in 2018 Costa café was where we made our original plans. Now the money that is spent in that café flows directly to support the community.

Story of Us

Some important collaborators for us have been Active Oxfordshire. With them there is an equal partnership- they contract us to deliver services which they know they could not deliver directly in the community. We teach children to ride bikes, and now also mothers, also the bikeability project. It’s of mutual benefit to Active Oxfordshire, OCA and the community.

Health Watch has been an important partner- they enabled us to go to places we could not go alone. They helped to raise the voices of the communities we work with. We did projects with health watch about men’s health, maternity and food research projects.

At the moment we have a partnership with the Agnes Smith Advice Centre. They started coming to our Wednesday food bank now and delivering their services and advice at the same time.

Now OCA is the trusted organisation—the Anchor organisation—and we can get money to other parts of the community. For example there has been a fund called “Well Together” administered by OCVA and Community First Oxfordshire. We were on the panel—they gave OCA money to allocate to other community groups. Through these groups who had never been funded before got money—the Sudanese Community Group, the Caribbean community, the Nigerian community and others.

We support many other community groups too—and individuals—to set up their own business. We want that to happen. For example, one Afghani lady was very shy, never spoke but worked in our kitchen. Now she is going to set up her own business. We have made a tool kit now that helps others to set up a community business to support their community group (see link above).

Story of now: calls to action

Meeting the community where they are at

We need council officers to come to the community. Come here and do your work here. We are delivering work which should be the responsibility of the councils- supporting people living with hardships. So they need to invest in us but also they need to come here and talk to people directly. See what the work is.

More direct decision making

We need better processes for decision making and self-determined lines of actions. The councils need to be co-designing with the communities and grassroots organisations. There need to be more direct routes for citizens' voices to be heard. Communities need to be involved and decisions should be made together. Instead often we only get asked at the end when the decision has already been made.

More coordinated approach to funding

We need a much more coordinated and transparent approach between groups. We regularly apply for small pots here and there for £5,000. There are many sources and it's hard to keep track of and keep applying. Plus very often we get a lot less than we apply for. This month we applied for £4,500 and got £300 to run the holiday activity camps. There needs to be a more coordinated approach. I would like it if there was a bigger pot and we decided, ok this organisation is going to this whole bit for these years, then it's someone else's turn.

A community owned support organisation

It would be good if there was one organisation that could support business development and community groups wanting to set up etc. But different to what exists already this organisation would be community owned. They would understand the needs of the community and be able to support people in a suitable, accessible way. If that was the case it could have the potential to really share, develop and build up a knowledge base in the communities.