Children at a Family Support Service in Dundee received a pleasant surprise recently when they were greeted by some new colourful characters to their after school club.
Peppa Pig, Sponge Bob, Tweetie Pie and Bugs Bunny were amongst the new creations formed by staff from SSE as part of a staff community volunteering project.
The eight employees, from SSE’s customer service centre in Perth, took a day away from their usual office duties to paint the characters on the walls of the Barnardo’s Family Support Team’s Children’s Centre in the city’s Hilltown area.
Chris Bell from SSE who helped organise the day, said: “We were looking to help a local project as part of our Community at Heart scheme which lets every member of staff dedicate a day every year to helping a local project in our local community.
“When we heard about the excellent work at the centre we jumped at the chance to help and loved every bit of it. We were really pleased with our creations and hope that the children like them just as much too.”
Whilst undertaking the painting work, the SSE staff also heard the sad news that the centre got over 30 children’s DVDs stolen as the result of a break-in. This sparked a campaign by employees to create a DVD amnesty which resulted in a collection to replace the centre’s stolen batch.
Dave Anderson, Children’s Services Manager of the Barnardo’s Dundee Family Support Team, added: “On behalf of everyone at the centre we’d like to say a big thank you to the SSE team.
“They not only spent several hours painting to create some fantastic characters but also were really kind in their surprise donation of DVDs. Both the new characters and DVD collection has been well received from both the children and adults alike.”
Barnardo’s Family Support Team is an equal opportunities project providing community based support for families from any culture which include a child or young person who has a significant learning disability.
The project helps children age 0 -19 years and from across the catchment area of Dundee.
Amongst the services offered include after school clubs, play schemes as well as adults support services thorough it’s ‘Growing Up’ – horticultural employment skills training service.
Find out more by clicking on www.barnardos.org.uk/familysupportdundee