1000 Hours 2026

Celebration and Stories

Our Vision

We believe the church should be good news for society, helping people experience God’s love in practical ways. So in May 2026 Oxford Community Church aimed give 1000 Hours of volunteer time to serving in our neighbourhoods, across the city and beyond.

Over the month, people took part in many new initiatives as well as registering the ways they already serve outside the church throughout the year. Together we were thrilled to exceed our goal and volunteer over 1080 hours.

In addition to encouraging people to find ways of serving in their communities, we also provided opportunities to serve with some of our existing partners such as Tyndale Community School, Safe Families, and Love Barton, and with other organisations recommended by Oxfordshire Community and Volunteering Action.

Our acts of service included:

  • Litter picking in various areas around the city

  • Cooking meals for new parents, or neighbours who have had operations

  • Volunteering at Girl Guides, Brownies and Scout groups

  • Volunteering at a bike co-op, martial arts group and ballet class

  • Helping launch Love Barton’s new community space

  • Helping elderly neighbours with shopping, DIY, gardening

  • Marshalling and volunteering at parkruns

  • Cooking meals for a family in crisis with Safe Families

  • Serving as a school governor

  • Helping a charity acquire property for a homeless initiative

  • Mentoring young people through a Big Brother and Big Sister scheme

  • Offering free tutoring to children approaching their GCSEs

  • Volunteering at a local library

  • Serving with Street Pastors to care for people on the streets late at night

  • Administration and online moderation for various charities

  • Serving on a neighbourhood watch group

  • Delivering meals and drinks to homeless people on the streets

  • Supporting families and children with additional needs

  • Volunteering at Oxford City Farm

  • Running a prayer space helping children explore creative ways to pray

  • Hosting a Morning for families at South Oxfordshire Adventure Playground

  • Helping run a breakfast for residents from a charity housing project

  • Cleaning and sorting at the Oxford Food Hub

  • Running sewing classes for Afghani women

  • Creating an allotment and outdoor learning space at Tyndale School

And many more…

  • A volunteer wrote: "We often get ingredients from the Oxford Food Hub for meals we cook through church, so it was a great opportunity to give something back to them by volunteering to clean the storehouse, sweep and arrange trays. The staff were so pleased to see the place transformed and become so neat and tidy.”

  • A team of volunteers who were litter picking near a row of shops wrote: “Some of the shop owners saw us picking up litter and decided to give us free refreshments, thanking us for the work we were doing.”

  • The headteacher of a primary school wrote: “As part of Oxford Community Church’s initiative this month, a pupil asked if we could do some litter picking near the school to contribute to it. With her parents she spent an hour and a half picking up rubbish along the road and in the park. What a great way of detailing our school's values and being a responsible citizen – thank you!”

  • Someone who spent time cleaning the house of an elderly neighbour wrote: “Spending time listening to my neighbour talk about grief gave me the opportunity to talk about God's comfort and presence.”

  • Someone serving as a school governor wrote: “The school had had a very difficult day. I got to open the governors’ meeting with prayer and share from the Bible about not being anxious, but bringing gratitude and petitions to God, and finding His peace which passes understanding.”

  • We ran a prayer space at Tyndale Community School, helping children engage with prayer in creative ways. One member of staff from a different faith expressed how helpful the space was and how she wished something like that existed for adults as well.

  • A volunteer at the Tyndale Prayer Space wrote: “It was good to see every child reflect on being 'unique, special, and loved'. There were a few children for whom it seemed this was not a commonplace conversation. One child said 'I don't think there's anything special/unique about me.' It was precious to get to affirm the reality of their unique value, and to see them being attentive and reflective as they considered that truth.”

  • Pupils at Tyndale Community School fedback about the prayer space: "This made me feel calm, relieved and connected to God.” And “This place made me feel more confident”

  • A volunteer arranged a meal train rota providing meals for a neighbour with a newborn child. She wrote: “My neighbours were incredibly grateful and said how helpful it has been to them. They had never heard of a meal train before and loved the idea.”

  • A volunteer serving at the launch of Love Barton’s community space wrote: “I had a conversation with one man about the what the charity is doing and he was so happy to know that there are people in this city looking out for the needs of families and children.”

  • One family wrote: “We helped organise a fayre in our new neighbourhood. We met about 100 of our neighbours, which was a huge step forward in terms of knowing and being known in the community. Because of the t-shirts we got to share with lots of people about Oxford Community Church and invite many of them to visit.”

  • A volunteer shared a message they received from someone whose garden they had worked on: “This is a miracle! A huge thank you to all of you. Your incredible kindness makes such a difference! I'm looking forward to having you all round for a nice meet up around my garden table.”

The Power of Community

Some of our Community Groups located in the West of the city offered free tea and scones outside their local community centre and knocked on doors to talk with residents about ways they could serve the community.

Many residents shared about jobs they needed doing, so across the month individuals spent time gardening and weeding, moving heavy furniture, and doing light DIY, as well as just enjoying coffee and conversation with neighbours, or helping them enjoy arts and crafts.

Residents expressed how touched they were to meet people who cared for them and for the area. Some remarked that they had never seen Christians serve in this sort of way and were very grateful, while others asked the teams to pray with them.

One resident messaged the team to say: “Thank you so very much for your wonderful, wonderful help today. A huge thank you to all of you. Your incredible kindness makes such a difference! I'm looking forward to having you all round for a nice meet up around my garden table.”

A team also spent time litter picking in the area, including at the front of a row of shops. Various passersby thanked them for their kindness, and local shopkeepers brought refreshments to thank them.

A volunteer said, “I went into this not knowing what to expect, but was so encouraged to have conversations with people who had simple ways for us to serve. It was so easy and joyful, and there was something for all of us to get involved with.”

Another volunteer wrote, “I’ve been really encouraged by the connections we’ve made, and the new relationships that we intend to keep up with beyond the month of May.”

Get in touch

If you have a story to share, or if you’d like to find out more or make suggestions for next year, we would love to hear from you. Please drop us a line:

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