LORD Lieutenant Tim Stevenson called in at Icolyn ‘Ma’ Smith’s soup kitchen, put on an apron and served roast dinners to the homeless.

Mr Stevenson OBE, the Queen’s representative in Oxfordshire, dropped in at the soup kitchen at the Asian Cultural Centre in Manzil Way, East Oxford, yesterday to find out more about Mrs Smith’s work.

Mrs Smith, 82 – known as “Ma” has five children, nine grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

She has been running the kitchen every Wednesday since 1992 and now runs an extra weekly session on Saturdays, after receiving funding from Channel 4’s The Secret Millionaire documentary.

Vegetables for meals are provided by the Oxford Food Bank in Botley, but otherwise Mrs Smith relies on donations to pay for the meals.

“Sometimes, I pay for some food out of my own pension,” said Mrs Smith, who asked Mr Stevenson to stir some mushroom stroganoff.

“It’s lovely that Mr Stevenson has come here to find out more about what we do and I hope he tells the Queen all about us.”

Mrs Smith, from Cowley, was awarded the MBE in the New Year’s Honours List in 1998 for her work among Oxford’s homeless and jobless.

Her son Gary Smith, 46, a qualified chef, worked alongside her in the kitchen yesterday to prepare the meals.

The Bicester dad-of-one said: “Mum has got five children but she considers all the homeless people her sons and daughters – she treats them like her own family.”

Mr Stevenson, a former barrister and company chairman, from Summertown, said: “The Oxfordshire Jubilee Fund is looking to support voluntary projects in the community and this is one of them. I realised I didn’t know too much about it so I came along to find out more and volunteer.

“I’m delighted to be able to put on an apron and help the team and I will certainly remind the Queen about the great work that is done here.”

In the past, the city council has funded the soup kitchen but last year it revealed that in 2010 it refused a grant to the cause because it thought the enterprise might encourage rough sleeping.

“The work we do takes the pressure off the council – if you are sleeping rough the work we do helps people get back on their feet,” said Mrs Smith.

Michael Vallier, 50, unemployed, from Greater Leys, has been calling in at the soup kitchen for the past 10 years.

He said: “I was homeless for a few years until about 1997, and I’m now on benefits so it helps me when I get a meal here.”

Eleanor Hogg, 49, of Elder Way, Greater Leys, who is also unemployed, added: “We always get a nice welcome and a nice meal in the warm.”