In this age of mission-led government, ministers could learn a thing or two from Steve Chalke. They talk to him, but are they asking the right questions? Chalke was a close friend of the last Labour administration, helping Tony Blair and then-schools minister Andrew Adonis hash out the academies policy. Today, with 54 schools, Oasis Community Learning is one of the largest multi-academy trusts in the country. Oasis also runs the country’s first and only secure school, Oasis Restore.听 The MAT is just one arm of the globe-spanning Oasis Charitable Trust, which Chalke and his wife set up 40 years ago following his childhood vision. With his dad Victor age 1 Born in 1955 in Croydon to an English mother (Ada) and an Indian father (Victor), Chalke鈥檚 childhood was marred by racism. 鈥淧eople would literally cross the road鈥 when Victor walked him home from school. Victor had come to England in the late 1940s 鈥渢o help rebuild Britain, in the same way as the Windrush generation鈥 but 鈥渢he invitation was bigger than the welcome鈥. Even members of his mother鈥檚 family made life difficult for them because 鈥渢hey didn鈥檛 take to this dark-skinned brown guy鈥. Chalke went through his school years with the nickname 鈥渉alf-caste鈥. His childhood was defined by poverty too, 鈥渋n a house with no heating, no hot water. We never went on holiday. I never went in a restaurant.鈥 That childhood fed into what Oasis has become, he says. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a passion to include people.鈥 With poverty came low aspirations. Having failed the 11+ (which everyone in the local authority sat at that time), he was sent to the local secondary modern. 鈥淥n the first day, we were told in an assembly we鈥檇 never do O-levels because we weren鈥檛 worth educating academically.鈥 The predictable outcomes resonate with today鈥檚 attendance and mental health crises. 鈥淎 load of kids would never come,鈥 he says. 鈥淎 lot of my friends struggled altogether.鈥 Chalke kept on with school, but stopped going to church, only going back to its youth club again because a girl he liked was attending. A few Fridays later, she rejected him. On the way home, mortified, Chalke鈥檚 life mission came to him, as 鈥渁 gift鈥. Mission statement He was mulling never attending the church again when 鈥淚 had this thought: At school they tell us we won鈥檛 amount to much, and at the youth club they tell us our lives have purpose.鈥 He decided two things: he was 鈥済oing to believe the church鈥檚 story鈥 and he was going to be 鈥渁 Christian and a church leader鈥. In that moment he set himself three further goals: to start a school 鈥渨orth going to, because my school wasn鈥檛鈥, to start a house for 鈥渒ids who no-one cares about鈥, like his friends, to start a hospital. His local one in Croydon 鈥 May Day 鈥 was known as 鈥淢ay Die鈥. c 1996 With Sir Cliff Richard in Bulgaria for Songs of Praise When he got home, he told his mum about his revelation. 鈥淰ery nice,鈥 she said. 鈥淎nd that鈥檚 the only piece of careers advice I ever got.鈥 It鈥檚 a mantra for Chalke: 鈥渁 school, a house and a hospital鈥. As he tells me his story, I鈥檓 gripped by this example of the power of a moment to shape a life. And if there鈥檚 a mantra that sustains the education system, it is surely this. Every education minister and every teaching ad relies on it to an extent: the teachers that inspired them, the fulfilment of the profession. But perennial crises of workload, recruitment and retention attest to the challenge of aligning vision with reality. So if mission-led government is the solution, then what does delivering the 鈥渙pportunity mission鈥 entail? Mission launch Set on his mission, Chalke took the opportunities that presented themselves. First of these was to run a youth group at a church on the rough Stanhope estate in Ashford, Kent. 鈥淧eople called it Stanhope, no hope,鈥 he recalls. 鈥淪o that鈥檚 what I did. At the age of 18, I went to live in Kent. I got a job as a factory sweeper and I used the money I got to run the youth group.鈥 Around the hard, unionised labour of the day job, he set up a theatre company called Shout, putting on productions with and for the kids on the estate. At 20, deemed 鈥渢oo young and na茂ve鈥 to study to be a minister. he was sent to work at another church in Gravesend for a year. 鈥淚 actually got to work as a youth worker there, which was great.鈥 1988 Looking around Number 3 At 21, he began training to become a Baptist minister at , working as a youth worker in Tonbridge as he went. He was ordained four years later. 鈥淏ut then I said: I鈥檝e got to leave, because I鈥檝e got to set up a school and a hospital and a house.鈥 For the next three years, he persuaded estate agents to give him disused shops for a few weeks at a time and set up pop-up restaurants in them with youth groups. 鈥淲e used to call them 鈥榚at less, pay more鈥 restaurants. 鈥淭he first projects in Oasis were to do that kind of thing. We ran hundreds of these restaurants, because I gave people the template to do it. We raised about 拢7 million and gave it all to a development agency, Tearfund.鈥 Mission control Oasis got its name from Chalke鈥檚 wife, Cornelia, a Hungarian child refugee who鈥檇 lived just up the road from him. She fully bought into her husband鈥檚 vision and worked with him on the plan. Establishing the house would be the easiest of the three aims, so that was first. At 29, with 鈥渘o money, no contacts and no credibility鈥, that鈥檚 what they set out to do. 鈥淚t was a painful experience,鈥 he reveals, but 鈥渆ventually, through a miracle鈥 they were able to buy a house in Peckham, 鈥渨hich is where I wanted the first one to be.鈥 The miracle came in the form of Edna Scroggie (daughter of Baptist author and Spurgeon鈥檚 alumnus, W. Graham Scroggie). She and her husband had heard Chalke give a talk, during which he鈥檇 mentioned his vision of 鈥渁 house and a school and a hospital鈥. One evening, Edna called. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got a house and 拢10,000 in a bank account and we鈥檇 like to give you both,鈥 they told him. 1985 Spreading the word at the start of Oasis 鈥淏ut the problem was the house was in a leafy part of Croydon.鈥 Not Peckham, where he was determined the house should be. Without ever even seeing it, he politely turned her down. A couple of weeks later, Edna called back. Declining their offer made Chalke all the more worthy of it in their eyes, she explained, so they sold the house and gave his nascent charity the money to make his vision a reality. As they worked towards the opening, Cornelia said one day: 鈥淚t鈥檚 like we鈥檙e creating an oasis for these girls.鈥 The charity had found its name. Opened in 1987, Oasis still runs Number 3 in Peckham, which houses homeless young women. 鈥淚n fact, we鈥檙e responsible for all the supported housing for over-16s across the borough of Southwark.鈥 Faith in the mission Now with a name for himself in youth work, Chalke was invited to India to give lectures for the YMCA. Raised on his dad鈥檚 account of 鈥渁 place of absolute beauty鈥, the poverty he encountered, 鈥渨atching people die on the streets鈥 blew all my theology away鈥. He had 鈥渁 giant crisis of faith鈥, but came back determined that Oasis would work in India. Chalke鈥檚 first schools quickly followed, in Indian slums. 鈥淚t鈥檚 easy to do when the DfE isn鈥檛 involved,鈥 he laughs. 鈥淵ou hire a shack, put up a sign saying 鈥楽chool. Starts Monday. Free.鈥 And boom, you鈥檙e full. That鈥檚 your admissions process.鈥 Today, there are Oasis schools all over India and Africa as well as England. And jokes aside, there鈥檚 an important lesson for Labour鈥檚 school improvement drive here. 鈥淲e work in Dheravee (the slum made famous by Slumdog Millionaire). Nothing works in Dheravee, so the thought that you might run a school that produces perfection on its own doesn鈥檛 even enter their head. 鈥淪ometimes it feels like we鈥檝e not learned that lesson.鈥 Mission: Possible In 1993, GMTV 鈥渄ecided to do an outside broadcast鈥. Near their studios was an Oasis project providing support for the homeless, so they went to visit and interviewed Chalke. 鈥淚 got a call the next day because they wanted to offer me a job.鈥 1994 Shooting with Mr Motivator Derrick Evans Chalke was propelled to TV stardom as the show鈥檚 in-house vicar, 鈥渄oing all the social stuff鈥 alongside Anthea Turner and Mr Motivator. When a devastating earthquake hit the Indian region of Maharashtra region that year, Chalke persuaded the show鈥檚 producers to let him run a telethon. Grudgingly given a daily five-minute slot for a week, he raised over 拢1,000,000. 鈥淭hat goes a long way in India, and it was enough to build a hospital.鈥 Oasis delivers a lot of healthcare in a lot of hospitals, 鈥渂ut the only hospital we鈥檝e ever built is that one in India.鈥 A church leader. A house. A school. A hospital. Mission accomplished. But Chalke was far from done. Waterloo perhaps best typifies his vision. In 2003, the charity became responsible for Christ Church and Upton Chapel, now Oasis Church Waterloo. In the 22 years since, the area around it has become a vast complex of community organisations 鈥 schools, a children鈥檚 centre, adult community learning and much more. In short, the opportunity mission can鈥檛 be delivered by schools alone. Mission-led government implies an ethical heart to policymaking 鈥 a vision. Sadly for Labour, Chalke advises that 鈥渧ision and frustration are the same thing鈥. Each is founded on a sense of 鈥渓onging for, hoping for, praying for what has not happened yet鈥. A little under a year into the Labour government, the opportunity mission has certainly brought a fair few frustrations. And the best measure of its progress may be how many still have faith in it. Do you?