AN AMBERLEY couple who have given a combined total of 60 years of unpaid service to Stroud's blind and partially-sighted residents have had their efforts recognised.
 

Husband and wife team, Geoff and Maggie Annis, volunteered to work for Stroud's talking newspaper, Five Valley Sounds, when it was first set-up in 1982.
 

The registered charity makes weekly recordings of local news and sends them out on CDs to blind and partially-sighted people living in the Stroud area.
 

The couple's combined 60 years of voluntary service was celebrated at the charity's 30th Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Minchinhampton on Saturday, August 11.
 

Five Valley Sounds chairman Bill Hicks said: "I am the first chairman who is going to have to manage without team Annis which is not going to be easy.
 

"They have been the backbone of our charity for the last 30 years. They were wonderful people and it is going to be very difficult to find volunteers to cover their jobs because they are close to irreplaceable."
 

Five Valley Sounds service is free of charge, with the Royal Mail delivering the CDs and returning the empty postal wallets without charging.
 

To receive weekly recordings, or to enquire about volunteering with the charity, contact Mrs Lesley Partington on 01453 832 034.