VOLUNTEERS from the finance department at Nationwide swapped their calculators and computers for shovels and paintbrushes today as they helped out at a local nursery.

The team of 10, from the firm’s Swindon headquarters, were taking part in a community outreach initiative to transform the pre-school play area at Poplars day care and nursery in Wanborough.

Working throughout the day from about 10am, they lowered fences, rigged up fun ball games, installed an outdoor kitchen and refurbished a vegetable garden.

Caroline Webb, Deputy Manager at Poplars, said: “We’re really lucky that these guys have come along today.

“They’ve been working hard and we’ve kept them supplied with cold drinks on such a hot day.

“We’ve got this great outdoor area, almost three acres – the children love playing out here, they eat their lunch and their breakfast outside too in this nice weather.

“Being able to get so much work done in one day means we don’t have to keep the children away for too long, they can get back to using the area quicker.”

The play area that the volunteers were working on is used by the pre-school children at Poplars, those aged three to five.

As well as being a great opportunity to do a good deed in the community, the day also presented a chance for the volunteers to bond with each other and develop their teamwork following the recent arrival of some new staff.

Nationwide’s Swindon employees are encouraged to take two additional days off each year for volunteering as part of the firm’s community engagement strategy.

Rob Swales, Finance Systems Manager at Nationwide, said: “We’ve all been keen to do some volunteering in the community for a while so we’re delighted to be here working at Poplars Nursery today.

“It’s important to us at Nationwide to get involved in supporting our local community and we’ll all take away some special memories from what we’ve managed to accomplish here today.”