Giving up a day of their time to transform garden

Volunteers from HMS Colllingwood and HMS Sultan gathered to make over a garden at Leesland School, Gosport.

Interserve, which looks after facilities at the Royal Navy bases, organised the Give A Day of Your Time event.

It is a charitable day during which people volunteer their time to garden, do DIY, and fundraise for community groups.

With the sun shining and the tea flowing, staff from various departments of both establishments put their individual skills to good use and united to create a team fit to take on the task of tackling the overgrown school grounds.

For some team members the day was nostalgic as they had been pupils at the school. Some even have children still attending.

Rob Morrow a reprographics supervisor at HMS Collingwood, said ‘It was a fantastic day and a very rewarding experience.

‘We all worked really hard which made the end result very satisfying.

‘I was particularly pleased as I was a pupil at the school in the 1970s.’

Mr Morrow said he was surprised at the huge difference just one day of hard work could achieve.

Calling his team The Magnificent Seven, he said: ‘Despite the copious amounts of tea, we left feeling tired and achy, but accomplished.’

It was a big challenge for some members of the team.

There were some who had had little previous experience, or interest in, gardening at all.

But they managed to transform an overgrown patch of grass and weeds in a prominent position at the front of the school into a peaceful outdoor space for the children at Leesland to relax in and enjoy.

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