A Manifesto For Hope

Zaian Aimable-Lina was murdered at just fifteen.

His life, like the lives of so many young people today, could have been spared.

So why wasn’t it?

Simply put, our social care systems are failing us, struggling for funding and failing to speak to one another. But there is another – more hopeful – way.

This book shares the ten simple, straight-forward principles that undergird Oasis’ holistic approach to community work – from ‘people follow people, not disembodies principles’ to ‘You go faster alone, but you can go further together’- and shows how reintroducing a fully funded youth and community service could have the power to change and protect the lives of our young people for good.

The Revd Steve Chalke, MBE is a British Baptist minister; the founder of the Oasis Charitable Trust; a former United Nations' Special Adviser on Human Trafficking; and a social activist.

Steve is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and is also the author of a large number of books and articles as well as a former presenter and now regular contributor and commentator on television, radio and other media.

In 1985 Steve founded the Oasis Trust to set up housing, healthcare and educational projects. Oasis has since developed into a group of charities working in 11 countries to deliver housing, training, youthwork, healthcare, family support and primary, secondary and higher education. It has grown into a significant voluntary sector provider, delivering services for local authorities and national governments as well as self-funded initiatives. In the UK, Oasis’ family of charities now includes Oasis Community Learning, Oasis Community Housing, Oasis Community Partnerships, the Oasis Foundation and Stop the Traffik as well as a growing network of Oasis churches. In the UK alone Oasis employs over 6,000 staff and works with thousands more volunteers.

In the UK Oasis works with some 1,200 homeless or vulnerably housed young adults each year. It is responsible for 32,000 students in 52 schools (both primary and secondary) in challenging communities. It runs a wide variety of other community building projects and initiatives; everything from foodbanks to debt advice centres, savings clubs to credit unions, city farms to community shops, breakfast clubs to adult literacy courses, children’s centres to refugee housing, libraries to football teams and health projects to employment initiatives. Oasis has a turnover of over £250m and is one of the largest charities in the UK.