The Okehampton and District Community Transport Group (ODCTG) organised a special event to celebrate the generosity of two well-known coffee morning helpers as they prepare to retire.

At an ODCTG coffee morning on Saturday (October 29), Okehampton’s mayor Bob Tolley surprised long-serving coffee morning supporters Annie Wills and Mino Penna with flowers and chocolates as a thank you for the many years they have served refreshments at the town’s coffee mornings.

The event follows the announcement by Annie and Mino that they would be hanging up their aprons and retiring from the role after Saturday’s coffee morning.

Sue Wonnacott, manager of the Okehampton and District Community Transport Group, said: ‘We are extremely grateful to Annie and Mino for their many years helping us with refreshments, they will be truly missed and will be a hard act to follow.’

Mrs Wonnacott added that it had been a fantastic turnout with over £400 raised for the charity and extended her thanks to the group’s volunteers and clients along with her gratitude to the Co-op for the morning’s refreshments and Waitrose for the gifts.

Cllr Tolley also presented the transport group with a cheque for £1,000 from Okehampton Town Council which will help with the running of the charity and the transport services it provides to those in the Okehampton area.

The OCDTG has had a successful year having received thousands of pounds throughout 2022 to cover the service’s costs and afford a new wheelchair-accessible vehicle.

The Okehampton Town Council cheque follows another presented to the charity last month when (October 4) Councillor Brian Wood, chairman of the Hamlets parish council, presented Liz Westlake, who was representing the ODCTG, with a cheque for £1,000.

Following the presentation, Cllr Wood said of the charity: ‘The ODCTG is probably the most loved charity in the Okehampton area.

‘My council decided to give them twice what we normally do so it’s a very generous amount. The charity are doing a sterling job.’

In June the charity announced that it had also received a £500 grant from the Magic Little Grant, part of the Postcode Lottery, and £1,000 from Movement for Good, a funding scheme that supports community interest groups, which it would put towards the running of its bus service.

The ODCTG is a community-led charity, supported by Devon County Council and West Devon Borough Council which provides transport to those in the Okehampton area who live in rurally isolated locations and those otherwise unable to use traditional public transport due to a disability or frailty.

It provides a Ring and Ride bus service and individual car transport which is available to anyone in the Okehampton area.

The charity also organises regular Saturday and mid-week community trips to a range of locations across Devon which have included Paignton Zoo, Exeter and Sidmouth.

For more information visit www.odctg.co.uk.