They gathered at the Pizza Hut restaurant in Shaw Ridge leisure park for a special New Year’s Day meal. The Bahá'í New Year coincides with the start of spring. This is year 158 in the Bahá'í calendar. Unity is the central message of the Faith, which was started in Persia and has now spread around the world.

Followers of the Faith believe there is only one God, that the human race is one family and that all the world’s religions are one. Another party will be held on Sunday at the Even Swindon community centre, where they will be joined by Swindon Mayor Arthur Archer and Swindon friends.

Janet Justnes, a local Bahá'í, told the Evening Advertiser on Monday that celebrating the New Year on the first day of spring symbolised a new spiritual awakening. "Just as the earth is coming alive after the winter, so we can start afresh," she said.