We’re opening the Old Schoolhouse site for a special community day on Saturday 25 September 2021, and you are invited! We can’t wait to welcome you to the Old Schoolhouse and to share more about the vision we have for making this lovely building into a hub for the whole community. 

Please feel free to drop in any time and for as long as you like between 10am and 2pm. We’ll have tea, coffee and cakes available in the morning, and a free BBQ running from 12pm through the afternoon. On site there will be fun activities for the children and tours of the building running throughout the day, so you can feel free to bring the whole family to enjoy the Old Schoolhouse!

Every hour there will be the chance to hear a short info talk giving more information about our plans for the site. There will be a stall manned by members of our project team who will be on hand to chat further and answer any questions you might have. We’re also inviting stall holders from a number of the brilliant local community groups and organizations who are already using the site for their activities, or who plan to in the near future. Please do take the opportunity to ask them what excites them about the plans for the building!

MRC’s vision for the Old Schoolhouse

Ahead of the day itself, members of our church community who live in the area have recorded a number of videos that help to articulate the vision that led us to purchase the Old Schoolhouse, and to answer some of the questions and concerns that some have raised about the building project. You can check those out below:

Local resident and trustee of MRC, Pat Brittenden, introduces this series of 7 short videos from MRC explaining who we are and why we are directly addressing our local community.

Pastor of MRC Dan Steel shares a little bit about MRC’s 150 year history in East Oxford including his own family’s personal connection to this area.

Members of MRC James and Emily Greig unearth some of the early local history and contributions of MRC to the social fabric of East Oxford in the late 19th Century.

Local resident and Comper parent Megan Bailey explains why MRC got involved in the project to buy the old Irving Building in the first place and what our core vision for redevelopment is all about.

Local resident, Comper parent and chair of MRC trustees, Charlie Currie talks about the ways in which we have actively consulted with the community from early 2015 until the time we re-submitted our plans in late 2020.

Local resident and assistant pastor of MRC Matt Hutchings talks about our plans for a hall on the border with Comper, which is one of the issues that has caused some local residents most concern.

Local resident and member of MRCs Old Schoolhouse steering group, Liz Hume affirms our belonging and commitment to the community of East Oxford and how we want to see the OS contribute to the Common Good of our area.

If you have questions following the community day, or off the back of looking through the plans for the Old Schoolhouse on the website (here), why not get in touch with us using the form below?

Thanks so much for engaging with this local project! We hope to see you in the Old Schoolhouse some day soon!