RESIDENTS of a Blackbird Leys care home are hoping a festive fundraiser will help towards their target for a new minibus.

Longlands Care Home, in Balfour Road, hosted the event on Saturday for its 48 residents and families.

A Christmas bazaar, raffle, tombola and a host of activities brightened the afternoon for all visitors to the care home.

Claire Hutt, a general assistant at Cowley’s Sainsbury’s store, enjoyed the festivities with son Kamal Mursi, three.

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She said: “Kamal really enjoyed it. He was running around. It was really good, there were quite a few people there.”

Members of Friendleys, a group for elderly residents in Blackbird Leys, have been campaigning for a wheelchair-friendly minibus for care home residents since July.

They have pledged to dedicate the adapted bus to former Leys councillor and Lord Mayor of Oxford Val Smith, who died in May.

The care home does not currently have its own vehicle and the min-bus would allow staff to take residents on trips.

Activities co-ordinator Angela Lindsay said residents at the care home have to rely on transport provided by Oxfordshire County Council, which is not always available when needed.

She said it means staff often have to transport residents in their own cars but are unable to travel with wheelchairs.

Miss Lindsay added: “It would enable them to go out more, to travel further, to experience things they may not have experienced before. People are every excited about it and have been talking about trips and places they would like to go to."