A Hampshire day centre which provides support for adults with learning difficulties and disabilities has received a helping hand from energy company SSE.
Employees from the company’s IT team based in Portsmouth spent two days helping get the New Blendworth Centre’s nursery spick and span by laying concrete, painting railings and gardening,.
The centre offers work oriented placements for its users, including the opportunity to carry out seed sowing, plant cutting, potting, stock cleaning and general maintenance of its nursery located within the grounds of the centre.
This is the second visit SSE employees have made to the centre in the past two years. The visits are made possible through the company’s Community at Heart scheme which gives every employee a day away from their normal work duties to help a project in their local community.
Suzanne Incerti from SSE has organised the company’s employee support over the last two years. She said: “The centre plays such an important role in the local community we were delighted to be able to return again this year and help make a difference.
“Last year we painted the staff room and activity rooms and this year were tasked with laying concrete to prepare the foundations for a new greenhouse as well as some painting and weeding.
“Although it was hard work, we all thoroughly enjoyed the experience and it was great to work outdoors in the fresh air. Plus the lovely weather also added to the enjoyment.”
Liz Smout, Centre Manager at the New Blendworth Centre added: “It has been an invaluable help having the SSE volunteers at the centre, the group who joined us on both occasions have been fantastic. They have not only enabled us to complete tasks that would otherwise have had to wait but they were also brilliant in interacting with both users and staff alike. We say a ‘big thank you‘to them all and that they are welcome back anytime.”
Since the launch of Community at Heart in 2009, SSE employees have dedicated over 24,000 days (the equivalent of 194,000 hours) to thousands of deserving projects right across Scotland, England, Ireland and Wales.
If you have a project you’d like a helping hand with from SSE employees, visit the 'employee volunteering' section of www.sse.com.