SWINDON charities received support from 60 Vets4Pets employees who spent 480 hours volunteering for seven good causes.

As part of the Vets4Pets’ Community Day initiative, colleagues from across the veterinary group’s support office painted, decorated, gardened and did DIY at Swindon Women’s Aid, Prospect Hospice, Hop Skip and Jump, Legge House, Whitbourne House, Buckhurst Park Community Centre and South Marston Parish Council.

Dr Cat Curtis said: “We love having our vet business based in Swindon, and being involved in the local area is of great importance to the Support Office team.

“There are so many brilliant charities and groups around Swindon that it was hard to narrow down which ones we could offer our assistance to. We wanted to support a range of causes, from helping children and the elderly, to improving the local environment."

Involve Swindon worked with Vets4Pets to organise the volunteer work for each project around Swindon.

Clarissa Legg, centre manager at Hop, Skip & Jump, said: “Vets4Pets helped us during their last Community Day, and it was really nice that they could come down and offer their support again this year.

“We have 160 children in our respite centre, with a range of different disabilities, so finding the time to do odd jobs like painting and decorating can be hard.

“The Vets4Pets colleagues helped us to build a sensory wall of all different materials, which the children in our care can use to relax and calm down. This will be a great asset to our centre, and we really thank the team for all their help.”

Jo Wyn Griffith, volunteer co-ordinator at Swindon Women’s Aid, said: “We have 22 families living on our complex at any given time, and we work hard to ensure that they are provided with the nicest and safest environment possible.

“Having volunteers helping us means that our paid members of staff’s time is free to support the families in our care, as well as those out in the community, and so the Vets4Pets colleagues coming to help paint the residents’ flats to help give them the best environment possible was very much appreciated.”

Amy Francombe, community and events manager at Prospect Hospice, said: “Our Avebury Rocks event is an annual music festival, which brings together local talent in order to help raise money to support our end-of-life services, whether that’s our in-patient unit or our community teams looking after patients with life-limiting illnesses, as well as offering support to their family members and carers.

“It is a hugely important event for us, and we heavily rely on the help of our volunteers to put it on, so we were absolutely thrilled that Vets4Pets could offer us some extra helping hands to set everything up; their help was invaluable.”

Coun Barry Thunder said: “The Vets4Pets colleagues helped us to plant hundreds of wildflowers down by the banks of the stream, as well as treating our wooden gazebo with a fire retardant paint; helping to ensure the St Julian’s Woodland continues to be a nice, safe place for the local community to enjoy.

“With only 370 houses in our area, volunteers can be difficult to come by, so when businesses like Vets4Pets get involved it is a real help. We loved being able to teach them about the local wildlife in the area during the day, and thank them for their support.”