WHEN homeless people started calling at the door of an Oxford convent seeking food and drink, the nuns based there decided something needed to be done.

A café for homeless people, Steppin’ Stone, was set up opposite All Saints' Convent, Magdalen Road, in June 2001. Ten years later, it offers much more than refreshments.

Since it first opened, more than 2,200 people have become members of the centre, taking advantage not just of cheap, nutritious meals but of opportunities to get their lives back on track.

Director Ian Callaghan, who has been with Steppin’ Stone for nine years, said: “The first phase was making it a place of safety and welcome.

“We then thought we needed to do something more to help people move forward in positive ways.”

Organisers still use the café – where lunch costs 75p and dinner £1.25 – to attract people and then try to involve them in other activities.

Art activities are held each week, with regular exhibitions being staged when artwork is sold with some of the proceeds going to the artists.

There is an allotment at Elder Stubbs, Cricket Road, where food for the café is grown. That project has grown from one plot to 12, and about 20 of the members each quarter help cultivate the land.

Porch Pickles, made from produce grown at the allotment, is made on site, with the homeless people helping turn it into jams, pickles and relishes.

A library, a laundry and shower facilities are all on site. But, more importantly, members are offered counselling, a chance to learn how to use computers, and people can complete nationally recognised qualifications in IT, cooking, the basics of vegetable growing and healthy living.

Money management, help filling out complicated forms, and ‘life skills’ such as cooking are also on offer.

About 120 people go through the centre every three months and every year about 15 people move on into employment and the same number find permanent homes.

Mr Callaghan said: “We have had people who came to us as rough sleepers and end up totally coming out the other end. But we also get people who have managed to get back on their feet but need support to stop them falling into the gaps again.”

Russ Jackson, 64, is a rough sleeper and started coming to Steppin' Stone a month after it first opened.

He comes to the centre every day, and has been involved in everything from making pickles to working on the allotment and creating artwork.

Staff have recently helped him fill in pension application forms.

He said: “It is very important to me because really there is nothing else like it in Oxford or even in Britain.

“There are day centres but they are only open for a couple of hours, here you can come in, have a shower, have some cheap food, and use all the other things too.”

And the centre has acted as an important point of contact. When his brother in Canada was ill, doctors faxed Steppin’ Stone and staff were able to get the message to Mr Jackson so he could phone him.

Kerry, 36, has been using the centre for at least five years.

Formerly a “sofa surfer” who spent one night sleeping rough, she now has a flat in Temple Cowley, but still receives support from Steppin’ Stone. She said: “It’s really good to get out and socialise with people and you can make new friends. I think this place is great.”

Prosper Baidoe, 57, has been coming to the centre for eight years He said: “When I first came I had nowhere to stay, I was just staying with my friends and moving about.

“I come more or less every day and I really like it, I like the staff.

“If you have any problems they will try and help you out.”

Mr Callaghan said the centre had not seen an influx of new members since the beginning of the recession, although a few old faces had returned. He said this could be because the centre does not cater for homeless families, who have been particularly bad hit.

But he said: “It costs about £240,000 to run each year, and we covered that last year. In the first three months of this financial year, we have already noticed that there is a slight drop in regular financial donations from supporters. It is also far more difficult to get money from trust funds now.”

He said Oxford City Council had continued its annual grant of £51,000 this year. But he said: “That’s not to say it won’t be cut in the future.

“Funding is always a big challenge – but the challenge is also getting people back into the workplace and on their feet again.

“That has never been easy, but it is harder in this financial climate.”