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 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 a belief that everyone deserves acceptance and that no situation is without hope.

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 social justice needs 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.

Meet the Team

  • Emma Olorenshaw

    Charity Manager

  • Judy Potts

    Chair of Trustees

  • Jem Todd

    Trustee & Designated Safeguarding Officer

  • Jonathan Lescault

    Treasurer

Trustees

Tanya Bownds

Susann Haehnel

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 and difficult life circumstances 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 empower parents of vulnerable children to translate the love they have for their kids into parenting that sees the child flourish. We currently do this through 1-2-1 family support and Kids Matter parenting groups.