We live in North Oxford, close to the centre of the city, backing onto the University Parks. The house, built in the 1860s, is typical of houses built in the area for professionals and the dons of the University.

Oxford is home to a well known university and its colleges dominate the city, giving it both beauty and life. It is an old city buzzing with young people from all over the world. During term time students and their bicycles can be met everywhere, but during the vacations pavements are crowded with young people from across the globe, some simply on a visit and others here for language school, of which there are many.

Then there is another picture of Oxford, the Town of "town and gown" - its industrial areas, housing estates and pockets of deprivation, its shops and leisure industry.

The Society of the Sacred Heart came to Oxford in 1929 so that sisters could attend the University. From the beginning they also offered accommodation to some students. The house is still full of students but has become a hostel for postgraduate/mature students who aim to build community, based on support and shared values. Supporting this community keeps us in touch with the many parts of the world from which they come, their faith traditions and cultures, their current reality of academic studies, and their hopes, dreams and aspirations for themselves and the world.