About us
Barton is a council estate at the edge of Oxford ranking in the bottom 20% on the indices of deprivation and in the bottom 10% for Children and Young People’s education.
Poverty, family breakdown, poor mental health, child exploitation and low self-esteem are just some of the issues here.
But to simply judge Barton based on the indices of deprivation or on its reputation is inadequate. This is a beautiful community brimming with talent and kindness, made up of loyal, caring, resilient people. It’s a community full of potential.
Love Barton is a Christian charity that exists to help bring out this potential, to tackle systemic issues that keep people and families in poverty, and to release them to flourish in all areas of life.
Our vision is to see every person in barton fulfilling their potential and therefore the whole community flourishing.
Love Barton takes a relational approach, working closely with families and individuals to help them break down barriers associated with poverty and deprivation in order to fulfil their potential. We work in collaboration with other organisations and are committed to approaches with longevity. We are motivated by our Christian beliefs, that everyone deserves acceptance and that no situation is without hope.
“Love never gives up on people. It never stops trusting, never loses hope, and never quits"
1 Corinthians 13:7
Our Story
In 2010 a small group of people from Headington Baptist Church moved to Barton to join in with what God was doing here and ‘do-life’ on the Estate - planting Barton Community Church (BCC).
In 2019 BCC opened ‘The Hub’ - a space at the base of the Community Centre in the heart of the estate which has enabled us to offer even more opportunities for support, encouragement and fellowship to those living on the estate.
In 2022 after more than 10 years on the estate, BCC launched the charity ‘Love Barton’ to expand and deepen the work we’ve been doing to meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of people in the estate.
Barton Community church & Love Barton now work closely together (both physically and strategically) to make difference to the lives of people living in Barton.
Our Approach
Based on the local needs and our capacity to help we currently focus our work on three main areas:
Health & Wellbeing: We provide practical and emotional support to those in Barton facing food poverty, isolation and poor mental health through Foodbank, Hear4You and one-off events such as money coaching workshops.
Youth: We support young people with low self-esteem or family challenges to have the confidence to make good choices and work towards their dreams and ambitions. We currently do this through our Know Your Worth courses and mentoring schemes, and are looking to expand this work in the coming years.
Flourishing Families: We provide practical and pastoral support to families in need, particularly those in crisis, and empower parents to translate the love they have for their kids into experiences and parenting that sees the child flourish. We do this through our stay and play group, family events, 1-2-1 support and Kids Matter parenting group.