On the 10th October 2023, people around the world will mark World Homeless Day. Oxford is a city of extraordinary contrasts - with some of the most expensive housing outside London and with a significant number of rough sleepers who spend the nights on our streets. Of course, homelessness is about more than people sleeping rough on the streets. There are others in hostels, sleeping on a friend’s sofa, living in temporary accommodation - all people without the security of a place to call home. 

Housing policy affects all of us. Many of us will have experience walking down a street in Oxford to discover someone sleeping in a doorway, snoozing during the day because it is often safer than sleeping by night. We may have seen others emerging from under roadside shrubbery early in the morning, dusting themselves down and getting ready for work. It is a scandal that our society is willing to tolerate homelessness, and it is a good thing that over the years people at St Mary’s have supported the Gatehouse, the Living Room and the Oxford Winter Night Shelter, as well as the work of national organisations like Crisis and Shelter. 

In Oxfordshire, there are many organisations which have been established to support those who are homeless. The Oxfordshire Homeless Movement is a partnership of the many organisations helping those who are homeless in Oxfordshire. All work to ensure that ’nobody should have to sleep rough on our streets’. OHM seeks to coordinate the partners so that by working together, we can ensure that our endeavours have the greatest impact. 

This year, I will be participating in a Sleepout to raise money for OHM. Please keep those who are homeless in your prayers. Colleagues from across the Collegiate University, the world of business, and civic representatives, will also take part. If you would like to support me in this, please donate to my JustGiving page by clicking on the link below. Together we can make a difference. Nobody should have to sleep rough on our streets.