STAFF from Santander’s Gatwick office recently spent the day at The Springboard Project in Horsham where they spent the day painting, gardening and cleaning.

The activity saw 11 volunteers from the bank painting the internal woodwork and external entry rails, deep cleaning play rooms and the kitchen, gardening and painting new external furniture.

All the work was completed in the week when the centre was closed for annual maintenance.

During this time Santander also funded the refurbishment of the sensory floor at the centre.

The Springboard Project is a community-based charity that provides inclusive play and leisure opportunities for families with young children, as well as fun short breaks for children and teenagers with disabilities.

Springboard Houses are open as drop-in centres for any family to bring their children and enjoy the play facilities during the week.

The centres are accessible with ceiling hoists, changing facilities and lifts.

Vicky Harvey, service delivery manager, at The Springboard Project said: “From everyone at Springboard, we just wanted to say a massive thank you to the team from Santander for such a great volunteering day - it means so much for a small charity like ours to have the support.’’

Tanya Tivey, relationship manager at Santander Corporate and Commercia said: “It felt great to be able to give something back to our community.

“We chose this project as we knew we could make a difference locally which became evident once we’d finished our work.

“We are really looking forward to having an ongoing relationship with The Springboard Project in the future – we will be back for more!”

Santander’s Discovery Days scheme encourages staff to take a day out of the office to volunteer with a local cause.

In 2016 over 6,000 volunteers took part in 556 projects across the country, including refurbishing local schools and hospitals.