A retired missionary Joan Williams has thanked the generous people of Tavistock for helping her raise funds for her trip to support orphans in India.

Joan William, 89, of Tavistock, raised a fantastic £1,100 with her bric-a-brac stall in the town’s pannier market last Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

She is planning to present the cheque on her final trip to India to visit orphanages in Kolkata (Calcutta) at the end of the year.

Joan has spent a lifetime working for the Salvation Army supporting disadvantaged people in the UK and abroad, including her beloved India, where she is revered for her work.

She plans one last trip to India, to coincide with turning 90, to see how the work she started has progressed and to say a fond farewell to former and current orphans.

She manned the stall in the pannier market with her son Chris and daughter Jan Pike and her grandchildren over three days selling many belongings which included memorabilia from her India trips.

Joan, who has also worked in South America, said: “I’d like to say a very big thank you the many people of Tavistock who supported my stall and came to buy from me. Between them and my family who were on the stall, they raised £1,100 which is beyond what we imagined. I’m very pleased.”

Widow Joan was also selling her autobiographical book of missionary memories of helped communities across the world. She worked on charitable projects, sometimes while her husband was in public servant roles.

Her book ‘Jump Now Mrs Williams’ is named after the command to leap from a typical rural Indian train which does not have a platform on which to alight and does not even stop – merely slows down.

Joan said: “On my first trip as a missionary to Simultala in the poorest part of Bihar, I was ordered to jump and follow my cases which were thrown out first – so we all rolled down an embankment. I will miss India so much.”