High Sheriff Awards to Abingdon Community Groups

During an unprecedented and difficult year Abingdon has seen an unbelievable level of community spirit and kindness as many new initiatives were set up to help protect our most vulnerable.

Abingdon Coronavirus Community Response team was a volunteer group set up by a concerned resident and resulted in over 400 “Street Contacts” across Abingdon who helped with a variety of tasks including shopping, arranging collection of prescriptions, posting mail – or just a friendly chat over the phone. They ensured a leaflet of contact details was delivered to every house in Abingdon so that every resident had access to the help they needed.

Abingdon Community Fridge fights food waste by redistributing surplus food from local businesses and members of the community. The Abingdon Community Fridge is open to all and they had to change the working methods during this year and relied on a group of volunteers to serve the public no matter what the weather. They helped a huge amount of people through a difficult year that has negatively impacted a lot of people financially.

Both of these groups have made an incredible difference to a lot of people and it was fantastic that on Tuesday 30th March they were recognised for this when they were awarded the High Sheriff Award.

This year has been an unusual one for the Mayor of Abingdon, Cllr Charlie Birks, and the High Sheriff of Oxford, Amanda Ponsonby. An empty diary with no official events, but endless opportunities to engage with the grassroots of our county and witness time and time again remarkable acts of kindness and generosity of spirit.