Local hero aims to deliver 10,000 meals to people in crisis across Banbury area this year

Michael Hampton has been helping vulnerable members of the Banbury community for a number of years, often digging deep into his own pockets to ensure that the people of Banbury do not go without vital prescriptions or food parcels.

Michael started his charitable work during the Covid 19 pandemic, when he was known as Mike on a bike because he delivered medication and food to the elderly and vulnerable who were isolating from the back of his pushbike.

In September last year, Michael created a new food delivery service, the Local Larder, which, with the help of volunteer drivers, delivers food to people across the whole of the Banbury area.

This year Michael has set himself an incredible target of delivering 10,000 meals and has also expanded the delivery area to include many more villages.

Michael said: "I started it in September last year because I was living with my mother and realised that she and others like her were not able to go out to get food from a food bank because of their poor mobility.

"After looking for a service that delivers food bank food to people and finding nothing in the area, I designed what was then called the Pensioners Pantry. I started the pantry with £300 of my own money on food and advertised the service I was providing on social media."

"The plan was originally to help pensioners, but I changed the name at the start of the year to Local Larder because I was getting requests from everyone and anyone who needed food."

Since starting, the operation has grown considerably, and Michael now has multiple volunteer drivers from the Volunteer Driver Service North Oxfordshire and two drop-off donation points in the town centre, one at A-Plan Insurance on the market place and the other at Cotton Clouds on Broad Street.

Michael’s food boxes vary depending on donations but typically include essential ingredients such as rice, pasta, porridge, teabags, tinned fruit and vegetables, and meat, but he will also include more luxury items like biscuits and chocolate if possible.

The boxes have been designed to feed a single person up to 25 normal-sized meals, and his service typically delivers 12 to 20 boxes a week to villages as far away as eight miles from Banbury.

Michael said: "The larder is designed to be an emergency service, not an ongoing thing for people. I will give people a couple of boxes but I want to help their long term situation so I include leaflets of places where they can receive more help.

"If people request multiple boxes, I will do my best to refer them to someone who can get to the root cause of the problem and help them that way.”

"It all started from something I wanted for my mother but it has got a lot bigger than I first imagined, which is great."

To request a delivery from Michael’s service, send a message to 07930 544311 or contact him through the Facebook page of the Local Larder at facebook.com/locallardernorthoxon/photos

To volunteer for the Local Larder as a driver, email the Volunteer Driver Service North Oxfordshire at [email protected] or call them at 0300 3030125.