Page 26 - OCF Oxfordshire Uncovered

Oxfordshire Uncovered
Those who are most vulnerable to isolation, loneliness and deprivation are refugees, arriving from troubled countries often with great cultural differences to our own. They face numerous barriers to making a home, starting a new life and integrating themselves into our community: language, accommodation, education, racial discrimination, childcare, mental health, training or cultural barriers.
Disabled people
Those with disabilities are another signi cant minority often susceptible to becoming isolated from the community. There are an estimated 114,300 people living with a disability or impairment in Oxfordshire.
COMMUNITY SOLUTIONS
Sanctuary Hosting
Sanctuary Hosting is a project that matches destitute sanctuary- seekers to people with spare rooms in the community, who are prepared to allow someone to stay with them rent free for a pre-de ned period of time. Formerly Oxford City of Sanctuary, Sanctuary Hosting has now re-formed in response to the refugee and migrant crisis affecting Europe.
In September 2015, Oxford City Council unanimously passed
the proposal to accept at least 60 Syrian refugees into the local community, with the rst families arriving in December. The city council is working closely with Sanctuary Hosting and other refugee charities to support them, and Oxfordshire Community Foundation is backing the new initiative with an emergency grant of £5,000.
Impairment type
Number*
Mobility
62,900
Stamina/breathing/fatigue
43,400
Dexterity
32,000
Mental health
20,600
Memory
18,300
Hearing
16,000
Vision
14,900
Learning
13,700
Social/behavioural
6,900
Other
17,100
Oxford has a tradition of welcoming and supporting refugees.
In light of the recent refugee crisis across Europe, there is an appetite among the community to keep this tradition going. Local funders and strategists should be aware of groups that support people of speci c nationalities, and multicultural groups who run programmes of education, socialising, training and activities.
Many of the services required focus on issues speci c to women
or men, or on different religious or language communities. These issues are sometimes the most hidden, or thought not to occur in Oxfordshire. For example, a new group, Oxford Against Cutting, has formed to help prevent female genital mutilation (FGM) of girls and women living in Oxfordshire.
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*Extrapolated from Family Resources Survey data Source: Joint Strategic Needs Assessment
Many people have multiple impairments.
In 2014–15, Oxfordshire charity Asylum Welcome supported 82 unaccompanied young asylum seekers and refugees, with 30 of them regularly attending their weekly youth club