Charity begins at home for Banbury coffee house

The Rustic Bean, in Parson's Street, has become a winter wonderland, with the star of the display, a cartoon like Christmas tree with over sized baubles and other assorted festive favourites, at its centre.

The interior decor was put up over two nights by owner of the cafe, Stacy Parsons, with help from friends and family.

"My uncle Terry came up with the idea of an appreciation donation box. So I said well you choose the charity as it is your idea and he said, then it's for the homeless."

Specifically the donations will be given to Banbury Young Homelessness Project (BYHP) and the display will be up until New Years Day.

"People always come up and say they really enjoy them so this is a way to give back," added Stacy.

Also well worth the visit alone is the toilet/bathroom, which shimmers under lit icicles and has had its own feature on BBC Radio Oxford.

Since opening in May 2018 the cafe undergoes regular, seasonal transformations under Stacy's creative eye.

"I just love creating something out of space. The whole place being rustic, I loved doing that, Hallowe'en, where we have spiders and stuff, I just love doing it, I love the space, I love interior design really," said Stacy.

The bespoke decorations have been sourced from Essex, where Stacy says you 'can get stuff you can't get anywhere else' and already he is planning additions and changes to next year's display.

For now though this season's display can be enjoyed during opening hours.

Stacy's uncle, Terry added: "We will see what we can raise. Anything we can raise is something. We get lots of comments so maybe we can tickle their pockets a bit too."