The Role of the Oasis Trust

The role of the Oasis Trust

The Oasis Trust has a website at

(tel 020 7450 9021; postal address The Oasis Centre, 115 Southwark Bridge Road, LondonSE1 0AX) which details their work nationally and internationally. The Oasis Trust is a registered Charity with a Christian ethos which works in the fields of 'housing, health, inclusion and education initiatives'. Steve Chalke, a Baptist minister, established the Trust in 1985, initially working with homeless people.

Involvement in education and the Academies programme

The Trust intends to sponsor many Academies around the UK. The Oasis Trustopened its first three Academies in September 2007 in Enfield, Immingham and Grimsby. Six more Academies opened in 2008, bringing its total number of open Academies to nine.

Oasis Academies Open September 2008:

OasisAcademyBristol
OasisAcademy Brightstowe (Bristol)
OasisAcademy MediaCityUK (Salford)
OasisAcademy Coulsdon (Croydon)
OasisAcademy Mayfield (Southampton East)
OasisAcademy Lord's Hill (Southampton West)

Oasis Community Learning is currently looking to sponsor further Academies; one in North East Enfield and one in Croydon, both of which would open in Sept 2009, one in Oldham proposed for Sept 2010 and two in Dudley.

Funding appears to be largely through donations, including a high profile (and lucrative) sponsored run in the London Marathon by Mr Chalke. Additionally, Oasis is involved in projects related to youth inclusion and the 'Esteem' programme for sex and relationships education.

Oasis Community Learning is the umbrella governing body for all Oasis Academies.

Academies are currently open in: Enfield, Grimsby and Immingham. There are plans to open an Academy inBristol in September 2008 and an Academy in Salford in September 2009. Additionally, Oasis is involved in projects related to youth inclusion and the 'Esteem' programme for sex and relationships education.

The Oasis Trust describes its ethos and vision on the website:

“Our ethos is an expression of our character - it is a statement of who we are and therefore the lens through which we assess all we do. The work of Oasis Community Learning is motivated and inspired by the life, message and example of Christ, which shapes and guides every aspect of each of our Academies. This is foundational to our belief that all people are created and loved by God as equal and unique beings, and to our commitment to model inclusion and compassion throughout all aspects of the life and culture of the Academy community.”

In the area around one its EnfieldAcademy, Oasis is running youth clubs and is building a new health centre with the local Primary Care Trust.

Faithworks

Faithworks is an offshoot of the Oasis Trust. It represents a free of charge "Academies Consultancy" for groups wishing to set up academies. As at May 2005 it had advised 10 groups interested in Academies sponsorship, of which half were from religious backgrounds (Source: TES, 27 May 2005, "Reverend's mission to transform schools").

Faithworks has a charter, to which Oasis Trust Academies adhere, to the effect that members will not impose their faith on others. However, Rev Chalke and faithworks have campaigned for faith organisations to be permitted only to employ people of their religion and Faithworks has advised organisations on how to circumvent laws on discrimination on the gorunds of sexual orientation, saying that 'organisations "committed to upholding the sanctity of sex being a part of marriage" should include this belief in their standards of staff behaviour' according to the TES, which also quoted John Bangs for the NUT who voiced opposition to the view (Source: TES, 16 July 2004, "Welcome to the academy for Jesus")

Oasis Esteem

The Oasis Trust is already involved in a sex and relationships programme for schools called Oasis Esteem. The premise appears to be that young people should have access to "all the facts about contraception and abstinence in order to make an informed choice about whether to have sex. While Oasis Esteem does not view abstinence only education programmes as the best way to teach young people about sex and relationships, failing to teach the benefits of abstinence, like failing to teach the advantages of contraceptive use, only serves to limit young people's choices", according to operation manager Ben Wing in the Education Guardian. (Source: Education Guardian, Friday June 25 2004, "Abstinence 'lost' in sex education")