Banbury's new Mayor, Mark Cherry, joined around 100 current and past volunteers, sponsors and supporters of Samaritans in Banbury Town Hall last week, to celebrate 50 years of the charity's work in Banbury.

The celebrations included live music from Matt McGuiness, and an interview with the branch's longest-serving volunteer, Anne - who has been answering the phones in the Banbury branch for every one of the 50 years since it opened.

Branch director Yvonne Stowe thanked all the volunteers for their work - and the branch's sponsors for helping to meet the branch's costs. Banbury is one of more than 200 Samaritans branches in the UK, and volunteers are drawn from from an area including Brackley, Bicester, and Chipping Norton.