On the streets of Oxford with the Companions of the Order of Malta

<strong>Arriving at Oxford’s Examination Schools</strong>, we found ourselves in a bit of a tight corner. The corner in question was very much a literal one: an awkward spot on the meandering route of the Freshers’ Fair, poorly located in terms of visibility, and in the dreaded Final Room. For those of you who have managed to purge from your memory the adolescent terror of Freshers’ Fair, where the heralds of the various societies are forced to leer out at the unsuspecting adolescents, Scylla-esque, and snatch at their shiny new University email addresses, it should be said that we were not overly optimistic for our chances. By the final room, freshers, no matter how initially doe-eyed, have developed an uncanny ability to avoid any eye contact that might invite a stall-holder to ask if they might like to sign up for their society. Dressed in our slightly oversized red polos, we steeled ourselves to ask the one question that we could to the now veteran streams of freshers: “Would you like to help the homeless?”&nbsp; <strong>The Oxford Companions of the Order of Malta</strong> are a student-led society, offering food, hot drinks, and company to Oxford’s homeless and vulnerable. During University Term we go out every morning and most evenings with food, coffee, tea, and snacks; every Saturday, even outside of Term, we hire a parish hall to offer the opportunity for showers, company, and hot food and drinks, to the neediest of the city. Homelessness continues to be a major issue in Oxford: I must pass by almost ten homeless people on my walk of as many minutes from my digs to the library on a daily basis. It is impossible not to notice, but it is, sadly, all too easy to ignore. It is far too easy for students to simply accept homelessness as a matter of fact, a sad but inescapable reality, and to try to avoid making eye contact with the cold, hungry person sitting outside Tesco, or on Cornmarket, or next to college, as if suddenly we were back in the Freshers’ Fair being asked for our contact details. <strong>The practical work that we do is vital</strong>: the sandwich-making and tea-ferrying and distribution of warm clothes, especially in the winter. Just as essential, however, is the fact that the homeless know that we care for them, that there is <em>someone</em> who cares enough to volunteer an hour, or two hours, or three hours a week to ensure that they have some warmth. Without going into the many stories that I have been told as I have been pouring a coffee or rummaging in a bag to see if there actually <em>are</em> any prawn cocktail crisps left, the common theme is always that our support, no matter how seemingly small, is of incredible importance – and that a black tea with two sugars can provide so much more than momentary warmth. As it becomes increasingly likely that despair may soon be met with euthanasia, it is no hyperbole to say that providing some hope to the despairing is in many ways the most important thing that we can do. <br><br><strong>In addition to our weekly activities</strong>, we have two big lunches a year for the homeless, at Christmas and Easter, and have several initiatives on the go for helping with care homes – most recently, a dozen of our volunteers gathered on a Thursday evening to write over 150 Christmas cards to send to the elderly and vulnerable. Faith is also ever-present in our activities, whether in the prayer that we offer before going out on a sandwich run or at our termly Masses, which are well attended even at the busiest points of term. Our work is supported by the Oxford Catholic Chaplaincy, the Oxford Oratory, and Campion Hall, and we are fortunate to have in Oxford so many Catholic institutions eager to lend us their support. We are, moreover, fortunate to have a fantastic committee of driven volunteers. We host several outreach events a year, most notably our annual garden party at Campion Hall, and in my five years at Oxford I have never known the committee not to be thinking about What Comes Next. <strong>We are forever grateful to our volunteers and donors</strong>, without whom our work would simply not be possible. Just as with the freshers with whom I began, I am sure that you have already given your email address (and, what is more, your time and money) to many different and worthy societies; all the same, I would like to encourage you to consider, if there is a homeless charity near you – whether it is the Companions of the Order of Malta, or Shelter, or any of the many other initiatives that run in the UK or abroad – whether there is anything that you could spare to help them at a time when our aid, both physical and spiritual, is most necessary. If you are a student short on cash, please consider finding out if there are any initiatives at your university that you can offer your time to; if you are in Oxford, please do reach out to the Companions. I promise that any support you can give will be greatly appreciated, and that it may well serve to change not only someone’s Christmas, but someone’s life as well.&nbsp;