How we help people experiencing rough sleeping
Summary of main services
OxSPOT is the outreach team we commission from St Mungo’s that assesses people experiencing homelessness and helps them to access accommodation and support that can prevent them from returning to the streets. OxSPOT is the front door of our homeless pathway and people must be verified by outreach to access most of the accommodation we fund.
While people are being verified and assessed they can access beds in our Somewhere Safe to Stay service for newly homeless people at Floyds Row.
There are two main hostels in Oxford. Homeless Oxfordshire has 56 beds at O’Hanlon House and there are 22 beds at Matilda House, which is run by A2Dominion and opened in September 2019.
As people progress towards independent living, they move on into supported accommodation that is usually provided in shared housing around the city. We fund accommodation provided by A2Dominion, Connection Support, Homeless Oxfordshire, Aspire and Response Housing.
During winter we provide extra emergency beds every night the Met Office forecasts freezing overnight temperatures. These are available to anyone who wants to come inside. From 1 January until the end of March, a group of Oxford churches also offers beds for verified rough sleepers in the Oxford Winter Night Shelter.
We fund services for people experiencing homelessness, provided by The Gatehouse and The Porch day centre. These services are available to anyone and include hot food, showers, laundry and activities to support people into work and training. We also fund Aspire Oxford to provide employment and training opportunities for homeless and vulnerably housed people.
