51 banking staff from all over the UK spent the day working on a building site volunteering on ‘make a difference’ day and make a valuable contribution to an important education project.
Shirebrook Academy commissioned the Pine Cone construction project, a sustainable development that includes a Post 16 and horticultural learning facilities for students of both Shirebrook and Stubbin Wood school.
Located on the old school site the work is transforming the space into something truly inspirational and in addition to the buildings, the landscape architecture will feature and orchard, a woodland, an orangery, a Yurt and an allotment. The Pine Cone will also feature animal care centre’s and a range of horticultural learning opportunities that will help students connect with the natural world
The sun came out and the staff from Lloyds bank started the day with a builders breakfast, a bit of Tai Chi and then they got stuck into deck building, den making, tree planting and working out how to construct a Yurt with instructions in Mandarin! A fish & chip lunch kept morale high as the heat and manual labour tested resolve. They worked well in teams and old fashioned graft got them through challenges such as how to plant trees on solid limestone!
The volunteers had a fantastic day and really did make a difference and they their efforts were much appreciated by everyone connected to the project. They returned to their day jobs with a few blisters, some new skills and warm hearts.