Oxford News
Bicester couple near £1m for Alexandra House of Joy centre
Alexandra House of Joy was founded in 2018 by husband and wife, Ian and Rachel Scott-Hunter to build the site on Middle Wretchwick Farm in Bicester.
The centre was Alexandra’s dream and will support and care for young and old adults with profound learning disabilities and their primary care givers.
Rachel said: “This is a legacy to our very brave and inspirational daughter. If we walked away, it would dishonour all that she went through.
“We know first-hand what families like ours are facing – the worry, fear, stress, isolation and loneliness, day and night, year after year.
“Love drives us, but love shouldn’t mean having to struggle without support.”
Alexandra, who was born at St David’s Hospital in Bangor, North Wales, suffered a brain haemorrhage four days after birth. This confined her to a life in a wheelchair where she was totally dependent on others. She died of sepsis in 2019.
From 1991, when Alexandra entered adult social care, the couple say they saw “how fragile and unfair the system could be” and now warn of a “shocking and disgraceful” erosion of adult social care.
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“We were heard, marginalised, excluded, ignored and utterly disrespected,” the co-founder said, “No-one was doing anything so we had to bring change.
“As services have disappeared, many are facing exhaustion, isolation and heartbreak alone.
“Families caring for people with profound learning disabilities in our community are being left behind.”
Despite this, the couple has raised £982,434 over the last eight years and are now only £17,565 off their £1m goal which will secure the start of the three-phase building project.
When the doors finally open, Rachel hopes her daughter’s legacy will be one “of love, courage and quiet strength.”
She said: “Our centre will offer care, hope and relief for people. People with profound learning disabilities will be valued and family caregivers will know they are not alone.”
Phase one, which aims to break the ground by early 2027, will see the construction of a four-bed purpose-built centre to support up to 25 families a month.
Phase two would add more bedrooms, extra activity rooms and a hydrotherapy pool, while phase three would see the creation of a small hospice service with two beds, a family lounge and relatives’ apartment.
The charity has been supported by local businesses and organisations, including Bicester Motion, Bicester Village and Bicester Tesco, who have hosted fundraising events over the years.
A fundraising tandem skydive will take place at Brackley Airfield in July and MP Calum Miller, the charity’s ambassador, will be joining supporters to climb Snowdon in September 2026 to raise funds.
The Thames Valley Police Abingdon unit arrested a man for “breaching court bail conditions” on Saturday, August 29.
A spokesperson said: “On Saturday, PC Hackett attended reports of a male breaching court bail conditions.
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“With assistance from PC Ellingworth and PC Harvey, the male was arrested. Following a search, a knife was recovered from his possession.”
In a wide ranging update, the force also revealed it had supported in a “concern for welfare incident linked to the night-time economy.
In addition, it had carried out licensing checks across Abingdon with drug wipes used and sent off for testing
OXFORD Mail Camera Club members have been taking photos of their dogs
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The collision happened on the southbound carriageway between Junction 6 for Lewknor and Junction 5 for Watlington in the late morning on Saturday, August 29.
The emergency services attended the scene and closed the road,
National Highways said lanes two and three of the three-lane motorway were shut as a result while crews dealt with the incident, leading to delays of around 40 minutes.
Congestion was worsened by separate lane closures between Junctions 4 and 5 in both directions following damage to the central reservation from an earlier incident.
Traffic built up on approaches to the crash, with nearby areas including Stokenchurch and Lewknor also affected.
Images from traffic cameras showed long queues of vehicles and emergency workers at the scene throughout the afternoon.
AA Travel also reported that one lane was closed on the northbound carriageway between Handy Cross and Stokenchurch due to emergency repairs.
National Highways later confirmed that all southbound lanes between Junctions 6 and 5 had reopened and that the lane closures linked to the earlier incident were also being removed.
Despite the reopening, delays of around 40 minutes remained on the approach as traffic slowly returned to normal.
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