Members of Shipley Salvation Army will be marking the organisation’s 130th anniversary in the town with a band concert this weekend.

The iconic Citadel was established during a period of rapid expansion by the movement and is one of a number of centres across the country celebrating the milestone this year.

Music has long been important to officers and members in Shipley with the Citadel’s brass band set up more than 100 years ago.

Ronnie Smith, 82, who has attended services at the church all his life, was pictured as a teenager holding his tenor horn alongside other band members in the early 1940s.

He said: “Music has been a major part of life all through the years. The Salvation Army does a lot of outside work in the community and it’s very important to the people they serve in different ways.”

As well as holding services and helping members of the community, the organisation also works with schools and youth organisations in the Shipley and Windhill areas.

Major Reg Melton, who held the post of corps officer at the church with his wife Maureen for eight years, said: “Slowly and gently the church is growing. We are very blessed in the sense that unlike many churches we have a full age range, which is very unusual these days.

“From the early days of the Salvation Army, the organisation got involved in social issues, particularly helping the homeless and people in need. Because of that the Salvation Army has grown over the years to become nationally the largest social provider after the state.”

The band will perform at the Citadel on Saturday at 6.30pm after completing a workshop with bandmaster Martyn Hobbs, of Peterborough Salvation Army.

The Salvation Army was founded in London in 1865 by evangelist William Booth, who wanted to offer practical help to the poor and destitute, as well as preach the Gospel to them. It was originally called the Christian Mission, but changed its name to the Salvation Army in 1878.