A HEALTHY eating crusader has received an award to recognise his efforts to support the community during lockdown.

Tony Gibbons, 81, has received a 2020 National Lottery Award. He, along with his team of volunteers, have provided free boxes of ingredients and recipes for healthy meals to more than 4,500 struggling Dorset families since the start of the coronavirus pandemic in March.

Mr Gibbons, who lives in Drimpton and is a former governor at Beaminster School, set up the Friendly Food Club in west Dorset in 2005 as a direct response to what was, in his mind, a lack of education and confidence amongst struggling families when it came to healthy and nutritious food.

He began to run weekly cooking workshops to encourage families to cook together, whilst learning about nutrition and having fun all at once. His ambition was to encourage children to persuade their parents to shop smart and to embrace a healthier lifestyle.

Following the outbreak of Covid-19 meaning families were no longer able to meet for Mr Gibbon's classes, he cooked-up a complete restructure of the club’s free classes.

The Friendly Food Club team created the idea of a cook box - a box full of healthy ingredients and recipes, alongside quizzes, games, facts about the food and activities to support home learning.

Mr Gibbons received the award alongside a message of congratulations from BBC Saturday Kitchen star and celebrity chef Matt Tebbutt.

Alongside the award, Mr Gibbons has been awarded £3,000 in prize money to support his project – which he will be using for a special Christmas cook box to send out to families who need it most.

Mr Gibbons said: "I received a phone call from a number I didn't recognise and came very close to not answering.

"When they explained to me what the call was about it was very exciting - especially when I found out it was a national award!"

Whilst the Friendly Food Club initiative originally started in Bridport - it soon extended to other areas across Dorset, including Weymouth, Bournemouth and Swanage.

Mr Gibbons added: "When the lockdown shut everything down, we had to think outside of the box. This was when we came up with the idea for the cook boxes.

"Originally we were providing boxes for the people who attended our workshops but requests kept coming in and eventually we were delivering to 217 families across the county."