Local businesses come together to help Banbury Community Fridge

Last week the Banbury Community Fridge took to social media to ask for help in getting a couple of doors added to its facility.

According to a post on the Banburyshire Info Facebook page, several local Banbury businesses quickly volunteered to help the community fridge.

The Banburyshire Info page post said: "On Tuesday I (community fridge) put a post up asking for any carpenters who had time to erect a couple of doors up for the Banbury Community Fridge, to pop along and give me a quote. The fridge is free food for anybody in the community who are struggling etc.

"Yesterday I had a call from Mark Tibbetts - the managing director of Tibbetts Developments Ltd. Mark arranged everything from start to finish. He got in touch with Magnet in Banbury, who donated the doors, and TGL then supplied the timber. Mark sent his carpenter, Micheal Grigsby, to complete the job.

"Mark didn’t let me (community fridge) pay for anything. Not all heroes wear capes. Thank you Mark."

Yasmin Kaduji, the founder of the Banbury Community Fridge, said: "We feel safe and secure. The food that's in there will go to the right people. People can come and collect food and it's secure now."

The Banbury Community Fridge, based in the car park of Banbury Mosque in Merton Street, provides a facility for the community to access food supplies that would otherwise go to waste.

During the Covid-19 pandemic, the facility has been incredibly important to the people of Banbury and surrounding villages.

They delivered in excess of 3,500 food packs for people in self-isolation, and vulnerable individuals over the age of 65. In recognition of the work carried out by the volunteers during this unprecedented time, they were nominated for an "Unsung Hero Award."