CHARITIES that help support refugees, cut Oxford’s carbon footprint and distribute food to the homeless were among the organisations honoured at a special awards ceremony.

The awards run by Oxfordshire Community and Voluntary Action attracted more than 100 nominations.

Low Carbon West Oxford (LCWO), a community-led initiative set up in the wake of the July 2007 floods, scooped the charity of the year award.

LCWO works in partnership with West Oxford Community Renewables, which last year was awarded £800,000 by the Government to fund green community projects, after being named among 22 winners in the Low Carbon Communities Challenge run by the Department for Energy.

The judges at the Oxfordshire awards said: “LCWO is an excellent example of residents taking positive action locally in response to a global problem which has had a real impact on their local community.

“Their achievements are also real. For example, as a result of their first Low Carbon Living Programme over 140 tonnes of CO2 was cut by the 36 participating households, representing an incredible cut of 36 per cent in one year.

“LCWO has also cut an estimated 80 tonnes of CO2 emissions by introducing three car club cars, used by around 170 people.”

The group has also been responsible for planting about 640 new trees.

The charity was praised for its success in mobilising people in West Oxford to take part, with about 40 per cent of the households already involved in some way.

The Oxford Food Bank, which recently celebrated its first birthday, was named the new charity of the year.

The group has distributed £100,000 worth of food to needy groups in the city, and gives away £5,000 worth of food a week.

The group collects food that has reached it ‘sell-by date’ from supermarkets and a wholesaler in Bicester.

The food is sorted at its depot in West Oxford before being taken to hostels for the homeless, soup kitchens and a ‘sure-start’ children’s project among others.

Bullingdon Disabled Club, which that organises social outings for disabled people around the county, won the lifetime achievement award.

The Launton Plotters landed the Greenest charity award. Bicester area allotment group began with a voluntary committee of five people last year.

Within months it had negotiated land with a local farmer to map out 70 plots.

Launton primary and Bardwell special schools were donated plots to help meet their curriculum, including healthy eating and community liaison.

The award for under-25s went to the student-run charity Jacari, which provides home teaching for children living in Oxford who do not speak English as their first language.

Oxfordshire Community Foundation won the Community Impact Award. The organisation supports groups working in the arts, sport, disabled, elderly, and refugees.

Since it was started in 1995, the foundation has made grants totalling over £2.5 million to over 750 organisations across Oxfordshire.

The fundraising campaign award went to Project Inspire, the charitable trust set up to create a village hall within Fernham.

Other category winners were: Refugee Resource, which won the use of volunteers award, and Oxfordshire County Council Waste Management, which won the statutory organisation award.