History

Founded in 1988 by Dr Pete Ward, a former Youth advisor to the Archbishop of Canterbury and lecturer at King's College, London, Kenny Wilson who is currently a lecturer in Youth Work and Applied Theology at ICC, Glasgow and Bob Dupee who worked for "Young Life" based in Canada,'Oxford Youth Works' developed a reputation for innovative work with young people. Within ten years Oxford Youth Works had finely tuned these methods and launched a degree program in Youth and Community Work and Applied Theology accredited by Oxford Brookes University and the University of Gloucestershire. This degree program is now delivered in five different centres across England and Northern Ireland: Cambridge, Bristol, Oxford, Nottingham and now Belfast. The centres are operated in partnership with Bristol Baptist College, Frontier Youth Trust, Oxford Youth Works, Ridley Hall Theological College, St John's Nottingham, Belfast Baptist college and Youth For Christ. This year the course will be delivered to a total of 230  undergraduate students who will also obtain a JNC professional qualification from the National Youth Agency and 50 postgraduates doing the new Masters course.

Oxford Youth Works continues to develop innovative models of Christian youth work in Oxford. These models of work are designed to see results in the development and of young people, in the transformation of communities and in providing young people opportunities to respond to the message of Christianity.