VOLUNTEERS and staff at a Caribbean-inspired community cafe in Blackbird Leys were ‘absolutely delighted’ after receiving the highest possible food hygiene score.

The Communi-Tea cafe at the Church of the Holy Family was set up in 2016 to offer families, students and people working locally a much-needed place to sit down and have some lunch.

With two paid employees, the cafe relies on a number of volunteers on a daily basis.

Their hard work and enthusiasm was rewarded when Oxford City Council environmental health officers visited earlier this year and issued a five-star rating.

Denise Morrey, a trustee of the church who helps run the cafe, said: “We were really pleased.

“It’s a very busy place, really well-used by the community, so many people come in and it brings everyone together.

“As it’s so busy some people were worrying about being able to keep up with all the aspects of food hygiene and checks et cetera, so everyone was absolutely delighted with the five-star rating.”

Aside from the busy nature of the cafe and recent weather making it more important to focus on food temperatures, the churchgoer said food bank deliveries were also a challenge.

She said: “As with many community based organisations, we get deliveries from the food bank, which is fantastic.

“But it’s also a bit of a challenge as some of it is often towards the end of its shelf life.

She added: “Our two employees have masses of catering experience and are very good with the paperwork and making sure everything is done correctly.

The inspectors even said they had ‘high’ confidence in management to keep up the standards.

Its Caribbean food, made by chief cook Sylvia Palmer and her assistant Eva Powell, has taken the community by storm over the past two years.

Last year the cafe expanded its kitchen and underwent a refurbishment to keep up with the demand.

They have also fitted a full-size commercial oven and made use of it to continue hosting hugely popular community events.

Ms Morrey said: “We did it basically because of the volume of people coming into the cafe.

“It’s been fantastic – while the majority of what we do is Caribbean food we have had some specific events as well, which the expansion has helped us cater for.

“Because of the good weather we have been doing a Jerk Pan, which is like a barbecue but with a Caribbean twist and that has been incredibly popular.”