Volunteers brave the cold to help clean a garden in Dorchester

A team from the Dorchester Youth and Community Centre were prepared to get their hands dirty as they cleared out the garden as part of the nationwide Make a Difference Day initiative.

As they braved the bitterly cold temperatures the youngsters from the youth club were joined by members of the Sports and Leisure Activity Programme (SLAP), a scheme run from the centre that encourages physical exercise and social activities to promote mental health recovery.

The team spent five hours clearing the garden belonging to resident David Steel who is unable to attend to because he has problems with his knees.

Volunteer Rory Major, from the Dorchester Youth and Community Centre, said: “It was as cold as ever but we all wrapped up and just cracked on with the job.

“We got there at about 10am and stayed there till about 3pm.

“When we got there we assessed it and there were thick brambles and weeds and the bushes were overgrown.

“We just cleared it all and took out what we needed to take out.

“We have revamped it so now he’s got a space he can use.”

Make a Difference Day is the United Kingdom’s biggest day of volunteering. The annual initiative run by volunteering and learning charity Community Service Volunteers (CSV) sees thousands of people getting involved in events around the country, all in the hope of making some sort of difference in someone’s life.

Rory said: “It’s a national event across the county that invites community groups and different groups to get together and make a difference, even if it’s just a few hours somewhere.

“The idea is we turn up and by the end of it we have made a difference.”

Rory said Mr Steel was extremely grateful for the work they had done in transforming his garden and had now given over half of the garden to the community to use.

He added: “David also wanted to thank everybody for their help, as some left before he had a chance to.

“He really did appreciate what they did for him.”