Employees dig in to brighten up charity's garden
As part of a charity drive, a group of legal eagles left the office to lend a hand outside.
An eager band of 15 employees from Fareham-based Hayward Baker Solicitors left their day jobs behind on Friday, July 9 to head out into the community and help change the lives of autistic residents.
They were taking part in Give & Gain Day, the UK's largest day of action for employee volunteers, organised by charity Business in the Community.
Their mission was to give Hampshire Autistic Society's residential properties in Alverstoke, Gosport, a much-needed facelift.
And one reason Hayward Baker has got involved this year is that it's the business's 10th anniversary.
The firm's director of finance, Nicola Libby, said she and her colleagues felt the time was right to give something back to the people who have supported them.
She said: 'Like many new businesses, we have depended on the support of the local community over our first 10 years.
'This event gave us a fantastic opportunity to repay their efforts by helping a wonderful local cause.'
Nicola and her colleagues worked to transform the outside space of the properties so that the residents could grow some of their own fruit and vegetables.
For most of the day Hayward Bakers employees, who don't normally do a lot of manual labour, toiled in the sweltering heat to revamp the residential centre's outdoor areas.
Nicola said: 'We had a fantastic day, even though it was almost unbearably hot.
'My team of solicitors, legal executives and support staff worked really hard to turn an overgrown garden into something much more pleasing to the eye.
'Hopefully it's also much more usable for the people who live there now as well.
'We painted all the fences and sheds, dug over and planted the waste areas and generally tidied up the gardens.'
Fareham's Two Saints charity also helped out by building raised beds for growing fruit and vegetables and provided some pub style seats for them to use.
Volunteers joined forces to raise funds for all the materials used, and donated tools and other equipment so the residents could use them to maintain their newly-created garden plots.
Nicola said: 'We actually got a lot more done than we thought we would.
'It was a hugely rewarding experience and we will definitely be taking part again at some point.'
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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