THE former chief of Oxford's biggest homeless shelter was tonight awarded the Freedom of the City.
In a ceremony at Oxford Town Hall, the honour was given to Lesley Dewhurst for her work over nearly 30 years.
Ms Dewhurst first worked as a frontline member of Elmore Community Support Team from 1988 and most recently stepped down as chief executive of Oxford Homeless Pathways in April.
She said she was "thrilled and delighted" to be honoured, but also used her acceptance speech to warn there was more work to be done.
She told the assembled crowd of city councillors, family and friends: "I am so aware that decades of good work can be undone by budget cuts.
"The budget for homeless services is suffering massive cuts at the moment and now more than ever collaborative work is needed to up with solutions to mitigate this massive threat, and I haven't even mentioned the housing crisis."
The honour was given to her by Oxford City Council.
Councillor Mike Rowley, who proposed the conferment of the honour, said: "I am sure that everyone here knows Lesley or know of her.
"She has worked in the homeless sector for 29 years, 13 of those as chief executive of Oxford Homeless Pathways.
"She transformed that organisation into a modern and comprehensive service."
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