We hosted our first-ever Comfort Cafe the last week of January. This was designed to support people experiencing homelessness by providing hot meals and access to showers in a welcoming, dignified, and inclusive environment. We are grateful to the Oxfordshire Homeless Movement for helping to fund part of the week. 

The Comfort Cafe followed a model similar to the Beat the Winter Blues Big Lunch for the Community, allowing guests to help themselves to food laid out on tables, with hot meals available on request. Each day, Climatarian Kitchen had delicious food prepared, including a grazing board, pastries, croissants, pasties, soup, and celeriac steak.

We carried out direct outreach to local homeless shelters and support organisations. In partnership with the Oxfordshire Homeless Movement, we contacted ACT Oxford and The Gatehouse Oxford to help promote the event, raise awareness, and guide individuals toward our services. While these organisations are based in Oxford city centre, Kidlington reportedly has on average between five and ten rough sleepers at any one time (when combined with Banbury and Bicester). These figures, however, reflect only those known through official reporting and do not capture hidden homelessness.

Many individuals experiencing homelessness travel to Oxford due to the greater availability of services, including showers and support networks. As a result, our outreach focused more heavily on Oxford to ensure accessibility for those in greatest need. 

This was our first event focused mainly on supporting the homeless community. While the Comfort Cafe remained open to everyone, individual visitors were able to use our showers. Moving forward, we hope to offer shower access on a fortnightly basis.

We are extremely grateful for the initiative, enthusiasm, and commitment shown by our volunteers. Even during quieter periods, their motivation remained outstanding. We want to especially thank Helen Truman, Helene Evens, and Janet Cox, who supported the event throughout the week.

It was also encouraging to receive visits from the Samaritans, Cherwell District Council, ODS with their extra bins and Thames Valley Police, reinforcing the sense of wider community involvement in ensuring meaningful support was available. That’s TV featured our Managing Director, who highlighted the importance of developing more initiatives like this across the community.

The Cherwell Collective community generously donated a wide range of clean and new items for guests to help themselves to, including hygiene products, socks, tops, jackets, and jumpers. Volunteers supported the event well in advance by sorting, organising, and recording all donated items.

In the future, we plan to collaborate more closely with existing community events. By co-hosting activities like this alongside events such as our recent Midday Mass and other community-led programmes, we hope to maximise reach, reduce duplication, and strengthen the overall support available.