Old Fire Station

About us

The Old Fire Station is a centre for creativity in Oxford housing two organisations: the homelessness charity Crisis and Arts at the Old Fire Station (AOFS). We share our building.

AOFS encourages people from all backgrounds to understand and shape the world in which we live through stories, creativity and the arts, and by connecting with others. 

What we do 

Produce and present across art forms 

We produce good quality art aimed at adults that takes a risk, asks questions and entertains. We want our audiences to have fun, but we also want to showcase new ideas and voices of different people. 

Help people to be creative 

We want people to be able to write, sing, draw, design, perform, move, make, imagine, play and create. We want people to tell their stories using the medium that works best for them. 

Support artists 

We support early-career artists from all disciplines with advice, networks and promotion to develop their practice as creatives, and as facilitators of others’ creativity. 

Include people facing tough times because of disadvantage 

We offer people who are homeless, socially isolated or disadvantaged space to define themselves and choose their own labels by including them in the running of the centre. We don’t focus on problems, but on what people who face disadvantage can offer. 

Work with communities across Oxford 

Our public space is shared by very different people, breaking down barriers and promoting solidarity in Oxford. We also work beyond our building with different communities to make Oxford a better place to live. 

Oxford is renowned for outstanding heritage and research. It is also a place of disadvantage and inequality. Oxford needs the Old Fire Station because we are about openness, inclusion, and different thinking. We connect sectors, organisations and people. We believe that breaking down barriers is fundamental to ensure creativity for all – and to have fun. 

What we consider in everything we do

Face the Climate Emergency 

This means working with others to  

• educate ourselves about the emergency,  

• take practical steps to reduce carbon emissions, 

• use our creativity to help our community face the challenges ahead.