Oxford charity looking to re-connect with Hertford volunteers

2 February 2021

Oxford-based charity Jacari is looking to re-connect with volunteers from Hertford who have been involved over the last 65 years. 

Jacari was set up in 1956 as a student society to tackle inequality and racial discrimination. During the 1950s and 60s, Jacari organised many high-profile speaker events and campaigns highlighting the racial injustices of the time. They also fundraised for scholarships for students from Southern Africa. Jacari’s teaching programme was born in 1965 and since then thousands of Oxford students have volunteered their time to tutor children who have English as an additional language.

Jacari is now an award-winning charity providing free one-to-one tuition to refugee, asylum-seeking, and migrant children in Oxford. Striving for equal opportunities continues to be at the heart of their work as they help refugee, asylum-seeking, and migrant children in Oxford to achieve their full potential.

Hertford alumna Freya Turner is now the Coordinator of Jacari Oxford and told us about how she became involved:

“Having spent much of my spare time volunteering in various ways whilst I was an undergraduate at Hertford (2013-2016), I was keen to stay in Oxford after graduation and was lucky enough to land the job of Jacari Coordinator as my first job. The coordinator role is a varied and interesting job and includes recruiting and training volunteers, supporting our student committee, liaising with schools and families to identify pupils in need, and oversight of our finances and fundraising endeavours. One thing I always appreciated about Hertford was its open and inclusive atmosphere and a strong commitment to social justice and equality of opportunity, and one of my favourite parts of this job has been meeting our many student volunteers who share these values and are committed to contributing to the life of the local community during their time in Oxford.”

Jacari is now looking to reconnect with their former members and volunteers from across the last 65 years. If you were involved with Jacari please get in touch with their Alumni Engagement Officer, Natasha Wooldridge: alumni@jacari.org / 07843 801167.

Find out more about Jacari’s work here.