Village hands over £2,000, raised in Christmas bubbles, to Banbury Foodbank

Though Chrismas seems far in the past now, Chacombe has received bonus funding from Lloyd's Bank Matched Giving Scheme to complete their Father Christmas Float total.

Chacombe Sports and Social Club took to the streets with their float in the five evenings up till Christmas Eve last year. Things were very different from the usual fundraising effort.

"We had Covid safe collecting 'bubbles' on either side of the float and though could not knock door to door as we normally would, we were able to accept donations - at arms length - if people came to their doors. We also had an online donation page," said Banbury Guardian village correspondent Lorna Fyfe.

"The weather was mostly kind to us, except the evening of December 23 when it poured down in torrents for the whole couple of hours. Our teams did not hesitate to push on through - but Father Christmas was very soggy.

"We never cease to be amazed by people's generosity, especially in this last year. We decided that the best way to help our community was to collect for the Banbury Food Bank. We are delighted to have donated £1500 to this great cause, along with an extra £500 from Lloyds Bank's Matched Giving Scheme, bringing our total to a fantastic £2000," she said.

"A huge thank you to all the people who made this possible and to all those who donated."