The West Devon Borough Council Civic Service took place last Sunday at Fairplace Church in Okehampton.

Hosted by the mayor of West Devon, councillor Paul Vachon, and mayoress Lynn Vachon, the service theme being ’All are Welcome’ was led by Reverend Chris Jackson with prayers said by the mayor’s chaplain, the Reverend Judith Blowey.

In addition to the regular congregation, the service was attended by the deputy lord lieutenant of Devon, Rear Admiral Ric Cheadle and the lord lieutenant’s cadet Sgt Liam Cox, along with mayors and chairmen from Devon cities, towns and district councils as well as WDBC councillors and aldermen, or ‘the Chain Gang’ as they are entertainingly known.

Paul Vachon, the mayor of West Devon, said: “I think you could describe it as a ‘lively’ event which everyone enjoyed. Rev Chris made sure everyone was welcome and friends with each other during the service. And I added to that the importance of keeping in touch. I’d like to thank all those who helped make this a special day and those who donated to my nominated charity for this year; the Dartmoor Rescue Group.”

After the service, during refreshments, the Dartmoor Rescue Group chairman David Stoneman put on a short video depicting some of the Dartmoor Rescue Group deployments across the moor, and answered questions from the guests.

The DRG has four teams strategically based around Dartmoor; at Okehampton (the North Dartmoor team), Tavistock, Plymouth and Ashburton. Each team comprises of around 40 volunteer members. Last year each team responded to around 40 call-outs and spent on average 4,000 hours per year on training and deployments. The DRG teams are funded entirely by public donations.

Visit www.dartmoor-rescue.org for more information.