Fifty years of Guide Dogs in Forfar was marked on Saturday with a golden anniversary celebration.
A family fun day took centre stage at Orchardbank with dog training demonstrations, tours of the centre, blindfold walks and sensory experiences.
It costs around £50,000 to train and support each guide dog throughout its working life, and Guide Dogs receives no Government funding for this service, which relies entirely on public generosity.
Councillor Sheila Hands, who is also a guide dog user, paid tribute to the great work which has been done in Forfar for half a century.
“I’ve been a guide dog owner for 27 years and am now on my seventh dog Artie,” she said.
“Throughout this time I’ve travelled all over the UK and Ireland with my dogs.
“Like other guide dog owners, the dog gives you confidence, independence and freedom which would be harder to achieve without them.
“In Angus we are really lucky to have had the centre in Forfar for 50 years.
“The staff are fantastic and I’ve known a number of them throughout my 27 years of having a guide dog.
“I’d also like to pay special tribute to seven sets of very special people and they are the puppy walkers that have walked my dogs during the first year or so of their lives.
“Without them, there would be no dogs to train.
“I’d therefore encourage people in Dundee and Angus to also consider undertaking this really valuable and fulfilling role.”
Guide Dogs’ presence in the town results from a meeting of Forfar Rotary Club in 1960 when Scottish Association chairman Dr John Gaylor was guest speaker and mentioned Guide Dogs was looking for a Scotland base.
Rotary club president Ed Nicoll and local GP James Miller were determined to bring the Guide Dogs Association to Forfar and a series of fundraising drives got under way after they won the support of local politicians, businesses, and the wider community.
Training school manager Logan Anderson said: “The support of local people was instrumental in Guide Dogs coming to Forfar half a century ago.
“Over the decades their generosity has been unwavering.”
The original Guide Dogs training centre, which stood on the old Dundee road, was opened on July 19 1965 by Princess Alexandra.
Princess Alexandra captured the hearts of Forfarians at the opening ceremony when she paid tribute to its townsfolk for their generosity.
She told thousands of listeners: “The completion of this building is indeed a triumph and I should like to congratulate both the Scottish and Forfar committees most warmly for their achievement and express the association’s gratitude for the generosity and cooperation received from the people of Forfar.”
Princess Alexandra again performed the honours in 2008 when Guide Dogs officially opened its flagship Forfar Training School in the Orchardbank Business Park.
The history of Guide Dogs in Forfar was put on record in 1995 by retired Courier journalist Laurie Rogers in his book Forward with Forfar.