Camborne food bank hero Don Gardner to retire

Don Gardner was widely praised on social media after his appearance on national television

A volunteer food bank manager hailed a "hero" for his dedication over the past 11 years has announced he plans to retire next April.

Donations of about £280,000 poured in for Transformation CPR food bank in Camborne after Don Gardner's emotional appearance on BBC 2's Cornwall with Simon Reeve in November.

Since the broadcast, the charity has secured enough funding for four years.

Manager Mr Gardener said it was "his ticket to take a step back".

He set up and ran the food bank with his late wife of 53 years Jen Gardner, who died suddenly in August. Mr Gardner volunteered for up to 60 hours per week to keep operations going.

He won hearts around the country when he was interviewed about the cause the day before his wife's funeral.

'Step back'

He said the charity had almost no reserves at Christmas 2019, but within weeks of the broadcast there was enough to run the service for four to five years.

After helping the charity secure its future, he told the BBC the food bank could now afford to employ "younger people" as managers, and apply for grants.

"I am going to step back from the day to day running hopefully in April next year," he said.

"Now we've got the money it's now my ticket hopefully to step back a bit."