Volunteers from community retailer the Midcounties Co-operative swapped their day jobs and pulled on gardening gear to help out at a Wombourne school.
The team of nine answered a call for help from Blakeley Heath School and got to work to improve its conservation area and carry out other tasks like repainting benches in the playground.
The volunteers came from all over the Midcounties trading area and included Ollie Moseley, head of operations for Midcounties News Express stores and Post Offices, area managers and support staff. Team leader Sharna Patel said: “We did a lot of digging and weeding in the conservation area at the school, clearing an overgrown area around the pond and helping to restore the pond. We also cleared a path which had become so overgrown you could not see it.
“It was hard work but we had a really fun day. It was good to get together with colleagues to do something different and give back to the community.”
Paul Carter, manager of the Midcounties Pendeford store and a governor of the school, said: “Midcounties has supported the school over the last two or three years. We really appreciate the hard work on this latest challenge, It shows the school is looked after and it benefits pupils, staff, parents and visitors.”
The Midcounties Co-operative has an extensive colleague volunteer programme that takes on all types of challenges to assist local people and organisations and to help the participants to develop personally and as a team.
Each colleague can spend up to three days a year on volunteering activity as part of their paid work time. Last year across Midcounties’ trading areas they delivered over 27,000 hours of support in response to local needs. Had the work been paid for it would have equated to £400,000.
