Employees at a leading south coast building services engineering consultancy shut down their computers and picked up a paint brush to take part in a community team building event.
(Right) Russell Pitman, managing director of Henderson Green, lays paving slabs at Alderbury Pre-school and Day Care Centre

The Henderson Green team spent a day at the Alderbury Pre-school and Day Care Centre, undertaking an array of maintenance jobs including the transformation of the garden.

The 15 employees from the south coast consultancy were provided with a list of DIY and gardening tasks and spent the day painting, laying paving slabs and cutting trees.

'We have undertaken some exciting and thrilling team building events in the past and all gained a lot from them, but this year we wanted to do something more selfless and that makes a real difference to others,' said Lisa Watts, one of Henderson Green's directors, who organised the event.

A large part of the day was spent cutting back overgrown trees and hedging that had taken over areas of the garden and the tree shredder was in use non-stop.

In addition, two bases of paving slabs were laid in preparation for the arrival of new sheds and the entire perimeter picket fence was painstakingly painted.

'Volunteering for the day as a team meant we achieved everything on the list. It was great fun but physically challenging and exhausting but it was extremely rewarding to see the transformation of the pre-school's grounds in just one day,' said Watts.

'Alderbury Pre-school is a voluntary run village pre-school and we were delighted to be chosen by Henderson Green for their team building day,' said Ruth Owen, administrator at Alderbury Pre-school, located near Salisbury.

'The pre-school is open to all children aged 2-4 years and fees are kept low so volunteer help with essential jobs is always very welcome. The staff, parents and children really appreciate the hard work of Henderson Green's team this weekend,' added Ruth.

Henderson Green specialises in renewable technologies and the design of engineering systems for all buildings, both new build and refurbishments, from the smallest contracts to complex major capital developments up to £50million.

The Southampton and Jersey based practice continues to build solid relationships with an array of clients in the healthcare, education, commercial and leisure sectors including Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust, Jersey General Hospital, the University of Southampton, the University of Portsmouth, Associated British Ports, EDF Energy and DW Sports.