The director of the Oxfordshire Association of the Blind, who took on the role after 18 years as a newspaper editor, has died, aged 60.

Laurence Cummins, known as Lou, passed away on October 13.

He was appointed by the charity in 1996 following a long stint at the Newbury Weekly News.

In the early days, he made use of his personal connections in Newbury, roping in friends to help fundraise for the OAB at Carfax.

When he started at the OAB, the charity reached about 1,500 visually impaired people in the county. Eight years later, client numbers had doubled.

Mr Cummins' was a formidable campaigner for blind people. Friend Penny Stokes said: "He enjoyed stamping on the corns of intransigent and mindless bureaucracy, and his name brought officialdom out in a cold sweat. At client level, Lou scorned conventional culture of social work that prescribes an emotional distance.

"If he found someone in distress that he could alleviate by direct personal action, he did whatever was needed.

"He once took a near-destitute client home for Christmas, the kind of spontaneous generosity that demanded as much of his family as it did of him."

Mr Cummins was a keen reader and music fan. Once a keen rugby player, he was also a golfer until illness forced him to stop.

Mr Cummins retired in May last year, but continued to work from his home near Hungerford as much as he could, despite ill health.

In March this year, to the incredulity of friends, he undertook a two-mile sponsored walk, raising more than £10,000.

He leaves a wife and two children.