HILLSIDE School welcomed volunteers from Caledonian Bottlers as part of its Give and Gain community initiative.

Returning for a second year, the team of 12 volunteers were hard at work weeding flowerbeds, cutting back bushes, painting furniture and play equipment and generally enhancing the outdoor areas for the pupils’ enjoyment.

Jane Minelly, deputy head teacher at Hillside thanked the volunteers. She said: “We’re very grateful to the team from Caledonian Bottlers who helped us out. They did a fantastic job and this is something we would not have been able to find the time to do.

“We are very appreciative as it brightens up our outdoor spaces for the summer term and we can really enjoy working and playing in the different areas. They even noticed that some of our play equipment looked very tired and bought us a few extra toys.”

Volunteers from across Caledonian Bottlers’ sister companies take part in a national programme of over 300 hours of voluntary support.

The Give and Gain initiative aims to celebrate the power of volunteering through building employee skills and confidence whilst mutually benefitting the community.

Group HR director Chris Lillie said: “The SHS Group is fully committed to making a difference in the local community. We recognise the value of working towards a shared vision and understand how transformational working together can be.

“We rely on our local communities and it’s really important that we do our part and support them where we can’’