Big-hearted residents in two Lanarkshire communities made a difference to local residents through special projects to mark the coronation.
Lesmahagow community fairies sprinkled stardust on the occasion for older neighbours by delivering more than 200 afternoon tea boxes, while community groups in Blantyre were joined by Asda staff for a litter pick – which yielded some surprising finds.
Tasty treats were distributed to the Lesmahagow residents to enjoy as they watched King Charles’ coronation ceremony, while the Blantyre residents staged their clean-up as part of the bank holiday nationwide volunteering campaign, the Big Help Out.
Volunteers from the community fairies group were joined by members of 1st Lesmahagow Girls’ Brigade to help with the “mammoth task” of delivering hundreds of coronation tea boxes to the area’s over-75s.
They had received a grant of £3200 from the National Lottery’s community fund for the special project to mark the occasion.
First set up two years ago to help combat social isolation arising from the Covid pandemic, the community fairies volunteers have continued their much-enjoyed good work by visiting to deliver individual birthday gifts, Christmas treats including gift vouchers for local eateries, mulled wine and sweets donated by local firm Gardiners of Scotland, and Easter eggs.
Meanwhile, the Blantyre volunteers collected 18 bags of rubbish during their clean-up in the Springwells area – plus four dining chairs, two TVs, a bike and a motorway sign.
Among those taking part were representatives of Bonnie Blantyre, Friends of the Calder and Blantyre Community Council, who joined staff from Asda in Blantyre led by community champion Mary Sutherland, alongside Hamilton store counterpart Gillian Summers.
The Asda team then went on to organise another litter pick with pupils from High Blantyre Primary, with Mary saying: “The litter pick was a true community effort, and it was amazing to see the amount of people who got involved including the three organisations who came together to give us a hand.
“It was so well received and we hope to host lots more litter picks in the future.”
Hamilton colleague Gillian agreed: “It was great to see so many people get involved and we all worked so well as a team collecting as much rubbish as we could; I’m grateful to be able to make a difference in the Blantyre community and it has inspired us to carry out more litter picks in the near future.”
Asda colleagues across the UK were offered a paid volunteering day to take part in the “great community clean-up” as part of the coronation volunteer effort, while stores are continuing to showcase local volunteering opportunities on their community boards.
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