What Next for the Gatehouse?

Oxford is known as a city of doors into other worlds, and the Gatehouse has one of those. The headline is “a café for homeless people” but as well as a sandwich and a cup of tea, visitors who descend the stairs to the basement are offered the hope of a future. How fantastic is that? Certainly they will find a welcome and the encouragement to make more positive choices for themselves – when the time is right. Those who visit often do so at the lowest point in their personal lives. When guests eventually express the need for a life unshackled by homelessness, addictions, mental illness and unemployment, workers at the project will have earned the right to be listened to.

The door is open. But for how long?

There has been a question-mark over the future of the project for the last four years, since the City Council announced its intention to redevelop the Northgate Hall. The charity has lived with uncertainty for some time and has been hoping that current discussions about day centre provision, generated by the Old Fire Station (OFS) development, will result in a secure future for its essential work.

There are three features that make the Gatehouse unique to Oxford:

The project operates an open door policy for people over 25 years who do not present a danger to themselves or others. This spirit of unconditional acceptance ensures that the most chaotic and vulnerable people have somewhere they can call their own. In time they can be encouraged to access some of the programmes available elsewhere, but only when they are ready.2. Simple food (with an emphasis on nutrition) is offered free of charge, as are books, newspapers, internet access, and clothes. Activities such as creative writing, art, blogging etc are encouraged as a way of increasing self-esteem and improving options for the future. Aromatherapy, massage and podiatry have also become a way of letting people know they are valued and appreciated.3. The Gatehouse provides a portal to mainstream society for its guests. One of the key features is the diverse volunteer team from all cultural and ethnic backgrounds, faith groups and age-groups. It is still volunteer-led and that is by design: paid staff with links to other agencies in the city provide professional support to the team, but the session leader is always a member of the wider community. A café which offers home-made soup and home-baked fruitcake is staffed by people from all walks of life who give up their own time to spend time with “guests” from the street. That’s something that money cannot buy.

The key question is not “Does Oxford want a project like the Gatehouse?” but “Can it manage without one?” The success of a scheme like the OFS will depend upon a sufficient number of programme-ready clients accessing the new project. How will they find their way to George Street unless there are feeder-schemes pointing them in the right direction? And where will they be contained in the meantime?