St. Francis House and Beyond

It was the House of Hospitality, St. Francis House, which brought me to Oxford almost eleven years ago. The Oxford Catholic Worker community ran St. Francis House for twenty two years and it has been a joy to share in the work. Now things are changing and Clive and Mena, who own the house and started the work, are taking a different direction and hope that the house will continue to be a resource for the local community. They are wonderful people and all my love and prayers go with them as they embark on this new venture.

We told our guests, five asylum seekers, almost a year ago that the house would be closing. The long closure has been painful but also blessed. We have been reflecting on all the people who have lived at St. Francis House, guests and workers, and there have been so many inspiring people.

It seems a good time for me to put down some thoughts about what this closure has been like for me personally.

For some time now I’ve been aware that the work has been getting too much for me physically. I’m no longer young and my sight is failing. The closure of St Francis House has made me reflect on my life from now on. There are many positives in this, the main one being membership in the Society of Friends and being part of Oxford Quakers. Being a Quaker in Oxford opens up all sorts of opportunities for continuing the kind of work I’ve been doing as a Catholic Worker; resistance to war and warmaking, active work on behalf of marginalised people in Oxford and sharing in a worshipping community.

The last few months leading up to the closure of SFH were painful for me, mainly because of my concern about the guests and their future. I realise that I went through a genuine grieving and mourning period but certain things have contributed to my being able to turn this grief into positive and active joy.

First of all I am able to continue our weekly sandwich distribution to homeless people in the centre of Oxford. This has been part of SFH life for nine years and for five of those years we have been accompanied by a small but enthusiastic group of students. Food and drink preparation now happens at my flat and I feel a real sense of connection with SFH while carrying this out, especially as I’ve brought from SFH my favourite set of scales, my favourite tin for making shortbread and the big yellow teapot!

Secondly, I have been able to offer hospitality to one of our former guests during Ramadan. I was originally prepared to take two guests as I have a guest bed and the bedroom is big enough for two people to share for a short period, but this wasn’t necessary in the end.

There is a project in Oxford now which attempts to find accommodation for asylum seekers in spare rooms. I thought that I might be able to join this scheme by offering emergency accommodation for a couple of weeks. I don’t have a spare room but am happy to give up my bedroom for a short while and sleep in the sitting room. I thought it might be a good plan to ease myself into this and see if it worked, by offering accommodation to our young former guest, N., who had nowhere else to go and was planning to sleep on the streets. It has worked so far. It has been easy because N. and I know each other; it is summer and he is happy to spend time out of doors and seeing friends; observing Ramadan means he is often with his worship community and shares food with them after nightfall; he is on the list to take up accommodation in a spare room when one becomes available. I know it would be very different offering accommodation to a complete stranger but I think I might give it a go!