Xenia

Who we are

Xenia is a grassroots women’s organisation working to create more inclusive, equal, and welcoming communities. Founded in 2016, we bring together migrant, refugee, asylum-seeking, and UK-born women through weekly Saturday workshops focused on conversation, connection, and shared learning. Participants are at the heart of Xenia. Women come together as active equals to practise spoken English, reduce social isolation, build friendships across cultures, and access civic and democratic opportunities. Our workshops are shaped by participants and grounded in care, hospitality, and mutual support. Conversation is central to Xenia’s practice. We use dialogue not just as a tool for practising English, but as a feminist way of working — sharing power, building trust, and creating collective knowledge. This approach runs through workshops, our organisational decisions, and our planning for the future. We are a small, ambitious charity at an exciting stage, focused on strengthening participant-led practice, sharing methodologies with other women’s and migrant organisations, and building sustainable, values-aligned structures to support our work long-term. 

Xenia exists as a feminist conversation. We don't just create space for dialogue – we practice conversation as our method for social change, organisational practice, and collective action. Through our workshops, community building, mentorship programmes, and collective governance, we're demonstrating that another way of organising is not only possible but already happening.

Conversation is how we practice into being a transformative world centred on feminist and abolitionist principles of care, hospitality and justice. This begins in our workshops and threads through every aspect of how we work – from individual support and mentorship to how we make decisions together and build networks with other organizations.

Our culture and values

Our work is guided by five core values: 

Conversation as political action: Dialogue is not preparation for change - it is the change, transforming relationships, challenging hierarchies, and building collective power. 

Hospitality as reciprocity: Inspired by Xenia, the ancient concept of mutual obligation between guest and host, we create spaces where everyone is simultaneously welcomed and welcoming. 

Non-hierarchical liberation: We dismantle oppressive structures through how we organise, make decisions, and relate to each other.

Intersectional feminism: We centre those with the least voice, particularly racialised women, and understand how multiple oppressions intersect. 

Collective care: Supporting individual wellbeing as inseparable from collective liberation.

Equality, diversity and inclusion policy

We are committed to being an equal opportunities organisation, and actively celebrate diversity in all parts of the way we work as a team. We particularly encourage applications from people who identify as Black, from an ethnic minority, from migrant or refugee backgrounds, and women who have experience learning English as a second or other language (either yourself or close family). 

If there is any way we can make the application process more accessible, or if you have any questions for us, please get in touch at [email protected].