IT COULD be the smallest cheque you ever write.

Campaigners fighting to save Oxfordshire’s community hospital kitchens are asking people to write them a cheque for just 45p.

Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust plans to close the kitchens at community hospitals in Wantage, Didcot, Wallingford and Witney.

It calculated the closure would save £300,000 of taxpayers’ money – equivalent to 45p per Oxfordshire resident.

But campaigner and Faringdon town councillor Alex Meredith said: “It’s impossible to put a price on the value of good hospital food.

“We may not be able to raise £300,000 to save the kitchens but, even if we don’t, this sends a message to the trust about the importance of freshly cooked patient meals.

“NHS figures show that over the long term hospital ready-meals are more expensive than freshly cooked hospital meals.

“When hospitals lose their kitchen, they also lose their ability to negotiate with suppliers and are put in the pockets of ready-meal manufacturers.”

The campaign group is asking supporters to send a 45p cheque payable to Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust to Alex Jackson at the Campaign for Better Hospital Food, Development House, 56-64 Leonard Street, London, EC2A 4LT.

The campaign to save the kitchens has been backed by celebrity chef and Oxfordshire resident Raymond Blanc OBE, as well as doctors, patients, Oxfordshire businesses, hospital cooks and councillors.

Oxford Health spokesman Chris Kearney said: “While there will be some financial savings from moving to cook-chill at our Wantage, Wallingford, Witney and Didcot hospitals, that is not the driving motivation behind this decision.

“Oxford Health NHS FT already serves cooked-chill food to the majority of our patients, including all of our mental health hospitals and around half of the community hospitals we run in Oxfordshire.”

He added a recent survey had shown 90 per cent of patients found the cook-chill food at least acceptable in quality and the move would ensure consistency across the hospitals.

The £300,000 predicted saving was revealed by a Freedom of Information request from the Oxford Mail in May.

The figure is less than half the £856,000 the trust paid its five top directors in 2013/14.

Supporters can sign a petition against the closures at chn.ge/1cOX8AH