BUSINESSES and community groups around Oxfordshire put the kettle on and raised a cup to a cancer charity today.

Macmillan Cancer Support worked with people around the county to arrange the World's Biggest Coffee Morning – with the aim of raising £120,000 in Oxfordshire alone.

One of the first to kick off the day was the Oxford Bus Company, in Cowley.

Operations director Louisa Weeks said the firm got involved because many of its employees were affected in some way by cancer – friends, family or themselves.

She added: “We’ve seen first hand the impact, but have also seen the support that Macmillan can offer and that is why we chose to join the WBCM this year – a great excuse for a cuppa and a cake.”

OBC service controller Tony Wedley said Macmillan nurses supported his late wife Ann through cancer.

He added: “I cannot praise their work enough and they deserve all the help we can give them.”

Other events took place in Bon Marche clothes shop in Didcot and in Freeland, where Yummy Mummies toasted the launch of their saucy calendar with a cuppa alongside BBC Oxford radio presenter Wesley Smith.

Last year, there were 600 Macmillan coffee mornings in the county, raising £91,000.