ONE woman is on a mission to help tackle Oxfordshire's growing homelessness problem – one packed lunch at a time.

Homeless support in the county faces more than £1m of cuts over the next four years and Loraine Burnett is taking a hands-on approach to tackling the problem.

The Bicester resident has created a campaign to help feed Oxford's rough sleepers and has been creating packed lunches to hand out.

She said: "I just got thinking – 'what can I do?' - I wanted to help but wanted to do something hands-on.

"So I came up with the idea of going out with packed lunches and sandwiches to give out the the homeless.

"I am not very political with everything that is going on with all the cuts, but there are many people in a dire situation."

As part of Oxfordshire County Council's cuts agreed at its budget meeting on Tuesday, February 16, housing-related support will be slashed by 65 per cent - about £1.5m.

It comes after the local authority already slashed the service's same budget from £3.85m to £2.34m in 2014.

These cuts will have an impact on many of Oxford's homeless support including shelters such as O'Hanlon House.

Mrs Burnett - who owns a cleaning business in Bicester - has also been in touch with the Oxford shelter which has agreed to give sandwiches and packed lunches to late visitors who do not get a cooked meal after 8pm.

She said: "It is something I feel very strongly about and I want to start by supplying sandwiches, snacks and bottled water as we go about Oxford.

"Then once I have a measure for what else is needed we can branch out and supply other items too.

"I now have created an Amazon wish list for anyone that would like to donate items so I can now hand out items such as sleeping bags and back packs directly to people in Oxford."

Mrs Burnett has created a Facebook page to help raise awareness of her campaign and raise support.

Volunteers have been helping Mrs Burnett make packed lunches and hand them out at weekends but she said this is only the beginning for the campaign.

She added: "This is just the beginning - I want to do as much as I can to help the homeless.

"Not just handing out food but also, in time, clothes, sleeping bags, medical items.

"People are being plunged into more and more financial difficulty and this is resulting in many finding themselves with no choice but to live on the streets.

"It is all just starting up at the moment, as we get more people able to help we will build on that and maybe go out a couple more times a week."

Bicester business Quadrant Lettings has also offered up its shop as a drop off-point for collections which Loraine can then take on to hand out in Oxford.

For more information of the wishlist see facebook.com/On-A-Mission-To-Help-The-Homeless-Of-Oxford