Outreach
Working with various organisations across Buckinghamshire, we provide specialist and holistic support through outreach work to connect and help vulnerable people. Our specialism is substance misuse and we are able to provide motivational and harm reduction support to clients, helping them to reduce their substance use, whilst aiming to support them into treatment and further support opportunities.
Homelessness/Rough Sleepers Initiative (RSI)
We are part of the Rough Sleepers Initiative (RSI) working with various organisations across Buckinghamshire, focusing on Aylesbury and Aylesbury Vale areas. The RSI provides holistic support, through outreach work, to connect with and help vulnerable high risk clients who are rough sleeping or in supported housing. As our specialism is substance misuse we specifically work with the clients who have issues with drugs or alcohol. We offer motivational support aimed at encouraging people to access One Recovery Bucks treatment service if required. Our outreach team offer ongoing support throughout someone’s treatment journey, and continue that support after the client has moved into a more permanent housing situation.
Staff and volunteers provide a weekly engagement facility every Wednesday at our Walton Street site in Aylesbury – we call this service Karma at Oasis. We offer a safe confidential space for one to one work, group work and peer support. At Karma we also provide food, a hot shower and clothes washing and drying facilities.
We are planning to provide a weekly homelessness related service at our new premises in Chesham. We are calling it #TransformationalTuesday. We want to open up our facilities to people who are homeless or have recently been housed in temporary or permanent accommodation following a period of being homeless. We can offer Routes to Work, physical activity sessions, cooking and food related sessions, arts and crafts sessions, access to counselling and social prescribing as well as other activities that we have available. We know Chesham does not really have a homelessness problem but we are able to offer a service to the whole County, receiving referrals from homeless support organisations. The idea is that people come to us for a day, participating in several sessions throughout the day, helping build a peer network of support and motivation between each other, whilst they plan their future lives.
Bucks Safe Haven – Alternatives To Crisis – Specialist Substance Misuse and Mental Health Outreach
Bucks Safe Haven is a crisis support service led by Bucks Mind, in partnership with Oxford Health NHS Trust, Connection Support, Citizens Advice and The Oasis Partnership. The service provides an alternative crisis support setting to the local A + E department, therefore reducing the number of individuals presenting to A + E in a mental health crisis.
Oasis will be recruiting a full-time specialist outreach worker that will be supporting the people using substances who present at Bucks Safe Haven. We will be offering harm reduction, motivational work and, if appropriate, we will support people into treatment with One Recovery Bucks and other support opportunities.
Our Mobile Outreach Vans and Transport
Outreach in Oxford City Centre
Our newest outreach van – Festival Harm Reduction
Last year we were gifted a converted Luton van. This van had been built and used as a live in vehicle, which greatly limited the usable space which we are now refurbishing so that we can provided a mobile outreach service. This will enable us to take some of our services out on the road, engaging with people who, for whatever reason, may not be able to access place based support. In time, the van, which we are calling ‘Blue’, will have wifi installed so that we are able to provide computer and internet access as part of our outreach offer. We are keen to be present at some of the key festivals, events and community sessions taking place throughout the County.