Lucy Faithfull House Garden (A.Swapp)

The place I worked for the last five years is to close. I met some of the best social care workers it is has been my privilege to work with in the past 20 years, most of whom became friends whilst working amongst some of the most challenging client group I have ever known. It was my great honour to work at the sharpest end of social care. My worries are for the vulnerable, the damaged, abused, addicted and those unable to look after themselves and how you rehouse 61 of the most hard to place service users it has been my privilege to come to know. Not forgetting the peerless Alcohol Recovery Project 6 bed recovery service in the business of saving many people's lives over the years in their struggles with alcoholism.
The building belongs to Riverside (ECHG) and we await with interest what they will do with the purpose built hostel and more importantly where the County & City Councils propose to rehouse these most vulnerable of clients.

Hostel supporting homeless for 30 years to close in January

• 22 December 2015
 
• From the section Oxford

Image copyrightGoogle

Image captionThe council said it was working on relocating residents from Lucy Faithfull House

A hostel in Oxford that has provided homeless support for 30 years is to close in the new year.

Lucy Faithfull House, which has 61 beds, will shut as part of Oxfordshire County Council's plans to reduce funding for homeless support by 38%.

Services at the centre will end on the 31 January.

The council said it was working on relocating all residents, but would not be offering a "like-for-like" service. 

The new service, which was put out to tender, will commence from February 2016.

Updates on this story and more from Oxfordshire

'Nowhere to go'

In a statement, the county council said the organisation that currently runs Lucy Faithfull House decided it could no longer provide the service.

Jason, who has friends currently staying at the hostel, said he was worried about their future: "They are not happy. They don't know what is going to happen to them.

"As people get made homeless they will have nowhere to go."

Oxfordshire County Council has proposed a £1.5m cut to its budget for homelessness services.

Ed Turner, deputy leader of Oxford City Council, said the cuts could see hostels across Oxford put at risk.

"It will put more people on the streets and really has to be rethought" he said. 

In a statement Oxfordshire County Council said "no decisions have been taken" on the future of funding for hostels.

The council's annual budget is currently £583m, but it has already announced cuts of £292m from 2010-2018.