How did you come across the Wolvercote Hub, and how long have you been coming here for?
We started up in 2023 at a beautiful room at St Peter’s church in Wolvercote, but then met one of your youth workers, Russ, and talked about our growing need for a larger place that aligns with our values and can meet our needs. We moved to The Wolvercote Hub (formerly the Wolvercote Young People's Club) in January 2025.

What does The Harbour aim to do for its young people?
The Harbour is a safe space for young people aged 11-17 to learn and socialise outside of school. It is designed to provide young people with the time, space and support each of them needs to explore their interests, passions and possible paths in life. It is a consent-based, self-managed, democratic learning community.

Together, we help them discover the kind of life they want and what sort of person they want to be. Some of our young people are talented musicians, artists, mathematicians or storytellers. We have young people interested in animals, politics, literature, geography, history, social justice, video games, data analysis and more

How does the Wolvercote Hub support you to do that?
Our venue needs to be an environment where our young people can feel welcome and be themselves, supported by adults they trust.

And this is exactly what is great about the Wolvercote Hub: it is about how freely our young people can move from space to space during the day, according to their needs. Our young people need to have a sense of choice of where they want to be. So whilst we use the communal area, say, for community meetings, our young people can also branch out if they want to be with others, or separate if they want to be alone. The kitchen, art room and computer room all greatly serve their purposes for creation, connection and learning. The location close to Port Meadow opens up all sorts of possibilities, such as nature-based walks.

From a safeguarding perspective, it is a good space because there is one main entrance and strangers cannot wander in, so we know where the young people are and can keep everyone protected and safe.
Being part of the broader community is priceless, especially for those who may have experienced exclusion and isolation prior to joining The Harbour. Even small things like James and Dory sometimes dropping by, or when Russ taught them how to fix a bike, or we can give someone a piece of cake we just baked, it means they are being accepted as they are. It means we are not just us but are connecting to a wider community.

How do you find working with the Wolvercote Hub team?
Russ was a friend to us even before we moved to the venue, and it was clear from the first moment that he understood neurodivergent young people and our ethos. This is not easy to find. We then found the same affinity with Val, James, Dory and other staff. They understood from the first moment what we are doing and shared our ethos, believing that young people have the right to get an education in the way they suits them, rather than following a one-size-fits-all system.
Clare, James, Dory, Cheryl and everyone are very welcoming. We loved joining in with their Christmas fair, and it was an amazing opportunity for the young people to show and sell their art. It was a very empowering experience for them. We feel very accommodated, and the team are very flexible and truly understands what we do and shares our ethos. This has manifested in lots of ways, even in small things. James may know a dog will be coming to the venue, or perhaps there is an inspection at the venue, so he lets us know, as some of our young people are very anxious. There is a sense of collaboration. In the garden, we have been given our own patch. One of our young people has applied for the grant, and Dory and James supported them to do that.

A sense of community is obviously very important to you. How does the venue help you achieve this?
Community is our main essence. The Wolvercote Hub really welcomes us and helps us connect with the local community and like-minded organisations, and we want to do more of it. Sometimes we bring a professional to speak with young people, and we want to do more of that, as it opens so many new ways of thinking for our young people.

On the other hand, we have to bear in mind that our young people are at different stages in the journey. For example, those who have been with us for three years are now much more open to working with people, trying new experiences, and talking about their future in a positive and forthcoming way. Others who more recently joined us may still feel a bit isolated, perhaps have mental health issues, and may not be ready to meet the outside world, so that balance has to be right. Being part of a community can be highly inspiring, open doors and help them gain knowledge. Some have questions and want to experiment. Some need to just be in their safe space. It’s a fine balance. We work with everyone to meet them where they are at, and our young people need to give their consent and to choose, so they can regain their sense of agency.

Are you looking to grow?
We have already grown from eight onsite young people in one community to having three learning communities, working with more than 25 young people. In addition to our in-person community at the Wolvercote Hub, we also have an online community and a school community, and partnerships with lots of schools, and with the Oxford County Council, as one of their approved alternative providers. Over three years, we have grown our team to seven facilitators and volunteers.
We are keen to keep our communities small, and we wouldn’t want them to grow too large, because our work is centred around relationships.

The Children's Wellbeing and Schools Bill and SEND reform mean much is up in the air at the moment, and we are waiting for clarity. We are trying to keep everything stable and sustainable for our young people.

About Harbour
Using principles of self-managed and consent-based learning, and democratic learning, we aim to equip young people with the empowering realisation that learning is fun, diverse, dynamic and safe, and most importantly managed by them!

The Harbour fosters a supportive learning community guided by our team of trained facilitators. Our structured daily and termly routines offer plenty of opportunities for community building, self-reflection, and the development of self-regulated learning skills, enabling young learners to take charge of and navigate their own learning journey.

Expected Learning Outcomes

• Mental health improvement, young people being heard.
• Young people achieve the goals they set for themselves.
• Creating meaningful relationships.
• Improving self-regulation skills.
• Improving meta-cognition skills, such as learning to learn.
• Improving conflict resolution skills.
• Improving employability skills.

We operate twice a week at the Wolvercote Hub in Oxford and also offer an Online Learning Community and The Harbour in Schools.

“The Harbour provides a safe, supportive, progressive, nurturing space for young people, where the focus is not on traditional curriculum, but on relationships, personal growth, community understanding, knowing oneself, knowing each other, boundaries, self-direction, project work, planning and doing, stopping and starting. It is the most inspirational place I have encountered for young people.” - A parent

www.oxford-harbour.org/
https://selfmanagedlearning.org/pages/the-harbour-oxford
hello@oxford-harbour.org
https://www.facebook.com/theoxfordharbour
07426 003 321