BY HANNAH BARR The Girl Scouts of America caused quite the media storm this week when they posted the article ‘Reminder: She Doesn’t Owe Anyone a Hug. Not Even at the Holidays.’ The article, designed to illustrate the importance of teaching young girls about consent, has caused a debate between what constitutes awareness of consent and …
Resource cuts in the UK mean there are fewer statutory support services for families going through difficulties. Teachers struggle to know where to signpost families for help, when, for example, they see children turning up to school not having had breakfast. In response, our Oxford-based network, Doorsteps, is piloting H2O (Here to Help Oxford), a …
BY HANNAH BARR At Doorsteps, we’re now a few weeks in to the second year of running Find Your Fire, our youth leadership development programme. We’ve had such a strong start to the year and have been really blown away by how much interest and enthusiasm there has been for the project from young people, …
BY HANNAH BARR “The Bible contradicts almost everything I say about myself. It says I am worthy of love; it says I am unique and valuable. It says I am of incomparable value to God.” (Katharine Welby-Roberts.) It’s World Mental Health Day today and I’m going to let you all in on a secret: I …
BY HANNAH BARR YOU ARE LOVED Outside of my work for Viva I help lead the youth work at my church in Oxford and last month I took some teenagers to the Christian festival, Soul Survivor, which involved camping for five days. Now, I hate camping. It is not something I consider fun and even …
BY HANNAH BARR The BBC reported today that “thousands of vulnerable children in England are being ‘left in limbo’ because their needs are not severe enough.” The charity, Action for Children, has warned that potentially hundreds of thousands of children are falling through the cracks because they are not at crisis point. They warn that …
BY HANNAH BARR The news yesterday that 18 people were found guilty of involvement in a sex grooming network in Newcastle sent shockwaves through the country. It comes shortly after the BBC’s drama Three Girls, detailing some of what happened in Rochdale, where nine men were convicted for their role in working to secure underage …
Following the closure of children’s centres across Oxfordshire, Doorsteps is committed to provision for under-5s. Our dream is to start a stay and play for East Oxford which brings together other services, such as opportunities to meet health visitors, breastfeeding clinic, and other signposting… essentially a one-stop-shop for under-5s care and needs! There is enthusiasm …
This month sees the launch of H2O (Here to Help Oxford), a pilot scheme for befriending struggling families in East Oxford. Parenting is full of challenges, and we want to be able to hold out a hand to parents who are feeling isolated, stressed or finding it difficult to cope. We are partnering with a …