Ma Smith: Founder of Oxford Community Soup Kitchen dies aged 91

Her son Gary said Ma Smith was an "incredible woman"

The founder of an Oxford soup kitchen which has operated in the city for more than three decades has died aged 91.

Icolyn Smith, affectionately known as Ma, was driven to first open the Oxford Community Soup Kitchen in 1989 after she saw a man eating from a bin.

Awarded an MBE in 2012 and a Pride of Britain award in 2018, she featured on Songs of Praise to talk about her charity work and her faith in 2020.

Her son Gary said she was an "incredible woman".

Mr Smith said she was driven by "a love of God, a love of people and a love of helping".

"The soup kitchen was started because she saw someone in need, it's as simple as that," he added.

"She used her pension and her own pots to get everything started and from there it grew and grew. It's been going for 32 years and it's still going to carry on."

Born in Jamaica, she moved to Oxford in the 1960s. It is estimated her soup kitchen has fed more than 45,000 people.

Oxford City Council's leader Susan Brown and cabinet member for inclusive communities Shaista Aziz said Mrs Smith will be "solely missed".

"Ma Smith touched many lives, over many generations. She passionately believed in community and dedicated her life to service of the community," they said.

Even during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, Mrs Smith opened up the soup kitchen at Cowley's Asian Cultural Centre, off Cowley Road, in time for Christmas.