VOLUNTEERS left the office for a day of work more physical than typing when they dug a garden for a charity supporting the homeless in Newport.

On one of the hottest days of the year, last Thursday, the team of 12 started work around 8.30am to clear a garden so others had a space to enjoy the sunshine.

The volunteers, from the Office for National Statistics, dug the garden in Waterloo Road for Solas, an organisation supporting homeless people in Wales.

Llio Owen, team leader for the volunteers, said: “The aim is they can go out and do some gardening themselves, get outside more and improve their quality of life.

“The volunteers really enjoyed it. It was really hard work, especially as we’re used to working in an office all day, especially in the hot sun we had on Thursday.”

They started by cutting back trees, which had grown right over the path, and removing litter and debris such as broken pots.

Then they needed to level the ground so it was easier to walk on.

Builders merchants Robert Price donated two tonnes of gravel for the project.

The volunteers left the newlycleared space as a “blank canvas”, where people using the centre can come and do some gardening for themselves.

Ms Owen said: “We could see the difference between how it was in the morning to what it was at the end of the day.”

Prior to the day, volunteers organised cake sales at work to raise money.