NEWTON Abbot's Torch Trust, the Christian group which supports visually impaired people, celebrated its 30th anniversary on Saturday.
More than 80 people, including mayor Cllr Daphne Watts, met at Prospect Chapel to celebrate the landmark. Secretary Margaret Colley, one of the founding members, said the branch was set up after a blind concert pianist, Peter Jackson, performed at Prospect Chapel in 1975.
A member of the Torch Trust himself, he asked afterwards if anyone would be interested in setting up a branch in Newton Abbot.
Since then, she said they must have helped about 150 visually-impaired people and had a current membership of 33. Cllr Watts said: 'They are to be congratulated on the valuable work they do for one of the groups suffering from disability. 'It's only by going round the town as mayor that you discover how many people there are working in the community.'
The group meets regularly and provides those with little or no sight with Christian literature in braille and large type. It has a retreat centre in Sussex and provides holidays abroad.