EACH year Crediton business, Ernest Jackson holds community days, where a team of staff have the chance to help to support local businesses, charities, schools and organisations.

Darren Phillips (production manager at Ernest Jackson) said: “We do this for so many different reasons.

“We want to build a close team and develop a community spirit, where our teams have the chance to work on something completely different (something that can be fun and rewarding and also an opportunity to learn new skills).

“We want to be able to give something back, and to be able to make a small contribution to making someone else’s working day/life, a little better if we can (something which is just missing in life these days).

“Our teams get the chance to volunteer (there’s absolutely no pressure for them to join in).

“So our kind volunteers are all there supporting because they want to help out, they want to make a difference.

“Our skill base is predominantly what we do best, which is making pharmaceutical products (such as Bassetts Multivitamins), but we give it our best shot to become gardeners, painters, DIY enthusiasts, beach combers etc. for the day.”

Darren added: “This year we wanted to look at helping the local community in Crediton, so reached out to various organisations.

“Two of which were, The Holy Cross Church and Haywards Primary School, who took us up on the offer to help out.”

David Brassington, a Holy Cross Church Governor, said: “I believe that all the members of our congregation and visitors to our Church would like to say a huge thank you to the large team of volunteers from Ernest Jackson who gave up a working day to weed and clean up the cobbled area immediately in front of the West Front, including the approach path from Church Street.

“Indeed, by mid-morning they had made such amazing progress, that they were also able to remove overgrowth along the North and South sides of the Church walls as well.

“The task of weeding between cobblestones is not particularly appealing, and to be of any longer-term benefit, one needs to pull out the root as well as the top of the ‘weed’.

“By removing the root, which in my experience, spraying never achieves, it becomes far easier to control subsequent growth between the stones.

“The Ernest Jackson Team approached the task, amidst sunshine and heavy rain showers, with incredible enthusiasm, supreme effort, and good humour, the results of which are plain for all to see.

“Each and every one of them is to be congratulated on a job well done.”

The team also worked at Hayward’s Primary School where they built fences, carried out repairs, cleared moss, brambles and ivy from various walls and put in fence poles for future fences.

They had planned to paint a wall for a new area but were unable to do this on the day, due to the weather conditions, but the team planned to return at a later date to complete the task.

There were approximately 45 volunteers on the day, who supported both activities.

The Ernest Jackson team will also be supporting Landscore Primary School and carrying out some work along the Millennium path to Sandford later on in the year - look out the volunteers in their purple t-shirts.

If you know of a company or charity in Crediton and feel you could benefit from some help from the Ernest Jackson team email: [email protected] .