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First year Clark Door mechanical craft apprentices Adam Johnston and Jamie McClean, supervisor Tim Fisher, and Operations and Supply Chain Manager Adam Wharton lent a hand to this year’s Give a Day to the City community project.  Their job was to refurbish a disused outbuilding at 108 Mealbank by cladding walls, making and installing a work bench, fixing racking and painting the floor to make a usable space for the charitable project. 108 Mealbank is a compassionate project based at the Hebron Evangelical Church on Botchergate, Carlisle and provides a hot meal, in a safe place, with volunteers eager to listen and help anyone in need. The refurbishment work on the outbuilding was completed across two days and the charity are delighted with the result which they are confident will make a difference to the people who rely on this service.

Adam and Jamie were keen to put the skills learnt on their apprenticeship to good use and were both really pleased with what they achieved. Talking about the experience, Jamie said: ‘It’s been great to use some of the new skills I have learned to help others.’

Give a Day was launched in 2015 by Andy Fearon who asked ‘What if everyone in our city took whatever they were good at, whatever they were passionate about, whatever skill they had, whatever was in their hand and gave it to our city for a day?’ Give a Day is now well supported with many local people and businesses turning out in force to make a difference to Carlisle.

Other projects this year included the tidying up of Portland Square where groups gathered to repaint the railings and improve the garden area, and the painting of an underpass at Kingmoor where college students created a colourful mural to brighten up the underpass that runs through the nature reserve.

Speaking about this year’s successful Give a Day, Operations and Supply Chain Manager Adam Wharton commented:

‘It’s great to get involved with the community and causes such as Hebron, which provides support for people who have nowhere else to turn. Using some of the knowledge and skills companies have is a great way to give back and is something that we will be happy to be involved with in the coming years. The staff and apprentices that were involved also seemed to enjoy using their skills for a great cause.’