Employees from Santander recently spent the day at Chelmsford West Children's Centre to help refurbish the centre as part of the bank's Community Day scheme.
The activity saw nine volunteers from the bank's corporate office in Chelmsford transform the outdoor space at the centre which had previously been left unattended for a long period of time and was essentially unusable. Santander employees cut the lawns, cleaned the playground equipment and gave the centre's storage shed a new roof and fresh coat of paint. The volunteers also helped create purpose-built flower beds, sandpit areas and a new vegetable planter for the children to use and grow food for the centre.
Chelmsford West Children's Centre offers a range of services including help groups and activities for families with children under the age of five years. The centre provides families with information, advice and guidance on a wide range of topics.
Wendy Tayler, Manager at Chelmsford West Children's Centre, said: "Now that the garden and playground are clean and safe, the children will be able to explore, dig and play with much more freedom. With summer now in full flow the timing has been ideal and we hope to utilise our outdoor space to help the children develop their play skills.
"As with many charities, we rely on volunteers to help us maintain facilities and ensure the smooth running of the centre. We are very grateful to the Santander team for taking time out of their work schedules to transform what is such a great outdoor space for the children."
Emma Barnes, Manager at Santander, commented: "We have always been committed to local causes that have a real impact on the immediate community. It is not always plain sailing when raising a child and the work the centre does for local families, especially those with young children under the age of five, is remarkable."
Santander's Community Days scheme encourages staff to take a day out of the office to volunteer with a local cause. Last year over 1,000 members of staff took part in 100 projects across the country, refurbishing local schools, hospitals and shops.
The activity saw nine volunteers from the bank's corporate office in Chelmsford transform the outdoor space at the centre which had previously been left unattended for a long period of time and was essentially unusable. Santander employees cut the lawns, cleaned the playground equipment and gave the centre's storage shed a new roof and fresh coat of paint. The volunteers also helped create purpose-built flower beds, sandpit areas and a new vegetable planter for the children to use and grow food for the centre.
Chelmsford West Children's Centre offers a range of services including help groups and activities for families with children under the age of five years. The centre provides families with information, advice and guidance on a wide range of topics.
Wendy Tayler, Manager at Chelmsford West Children's Centre, said: "Now that the garden and playground are clean and safe, the children will be able to explore, dig and play with much more freedom. With summer now in full flow the timing has been ideal and we hope to utilise our outdoor space to help the children develop their play skills.
"As with many charities, we rely on volunteers to help us maintain facilities and ensure the smooth running of the centre. We are very grateful to the Santander team for taking time out of their work schedules to transform what is such a great outdoor space for the children."
Emma Barnes, Manager at Santander, commented: "We have always been committed to local causes that have a real impact on the immediate community. It is not always plain sailing when raising a child and the work the centre does for local families, especially those with young children under the age of five, is remarkable."
Santander's Community Days scheme encourages staff to take a day out of the office to volunteer with a local cause. Last year over 1,000 members of staff took part in 100 projects across the country, refurbishing local schools, hospitals and shops.
