Sad news about the close down of OxFizz
2020 has been a challenging year for us all, whatever sector we operate in. For those of us working in the social purpose sector, we have faced the challenges of increasing demand for services, a need to adapt to new models of delivery, whilst tackling declining income.
As a result of a significant decline in our income due to the loss of our academic summer school, OxFizz will be winding up in January 2021. Our unique Access programme and annual charitable donations will therefore come to an end.
The team are heartbroken. Having adapted rapidly to the need to move online, we have had a highly successful year. We have:
Increased the quantity of support for our young people through our Access programme by 60%.
Strengthened the average amount of contact per young person by 67%.
Helped 79% of our cohort to secure interviews at Oxbridge.
Generated £14k of donations of charitable organisations.
OxFizz was founded in 2007 to increase financial and personnel resources to the charitable sector. During those 13 years we have:
Generated over £1m in donations for charities.
Engaged over 500 Oxbridge graduates in volunteering and philanthropy.
Supported over 300 young people from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds with their Oxbridge applications per year.
From 2018 we moved our bursary provision into a year-long Access programme, which has grown year on year. In 2020, we delivered 280% more contact time than in 2018. We are now delivering four hours of Access support for every 1 hour of paid support.
The loss of OxFizz creates a significant gap in the social purpose sector. Our model of volunteer-generated earned income, Access provision and charitable donations is unique. Our Access programme, delivered in partnership with 14 organisations and schools, fills a gap for high quality Oxbridge application support for socio-economically disadvantaged pupils. A gap that will need filling now that we are gone. In the new year, the Board will be inviting stakeholders to participate in a conversation about ways in which it might be possible to continue harnessing our unique assets into the future after the windup of our activities.
Over the next couple of days we will publish insights drawn from our work this year:
Reporting on how we have supported our young people through our 2020 Access programme.
Sharing two reports from volunteers looking at specific aspects of Oxbridge application support for young people from socio-economically disadvantaged backgrounds and recommendations to inform future support.
Sharing our resources with those organisations we work closely with, so that they may be of use to young people in the future.
In January 2021, the Board of OxFizz will be facilitating a conversation with interested parties to identify any ways to protect the unique assets that make Oxfizz special. If you would be interested in being part of those conversations please get in touch here.
I want to close by recognising the contributions of the team, our volunteer community and partner organisations that have helped make OxFizz what it is. Thank you so much for everything that you have done over the last 13 years.