A TEAM of helpers came to the rescue of a Sheepridge community centre in desperate need of a lick of paint.

The Fresh Horizons centre in Browning Road had been decorated in a nasty shade of green.

So volunteers organised by the Huddersfield Lions Club and recruited by the Examiner descended!

They painted the interior computer room and kitchen in crisp white.

Willing workers were today putting the finishing touches to the project.

At new year, the Examiner called on readers to give up a day of their time to help in a community project.

And we called for organisations with tasks to do to come forward.

The result is a spring action campaign that'll finish with refurbishment of the National Children' Centre play train at Huddersfield Railway Station.

Volunteers have already rolled up their sleeves and set to work on a variety of tasks including fence building at the Greenfields Family Centre, Dalton.

At Sheepridge, painters gathered to give the former FRASP (Furniture Restoration And Sales Project) headquarters its new look.

A total of 60 children attend after-school activities there.

Groups aged eight to 11 and 11 to 16 get supervised internet access at the centre on Wednesday and Thursday evenings.

The Hope Learning Forum and Riddings Tenants Association paid for the paint.

Glendene Gill, of Fresh Horizons, part of wider work at the Chestnut Centre in Deighton, said: "We saw the offer of help in the Examiner, and we thought why not? Let's apply!"

A few children also lent a hand to the adults, as their schools were shut because of the council strike.

And the project got a boost from a local expert, Sandra Stanford.

The 57-year-old, of Outlane, is a former lecturer at Huddersfield Technical College in painting and decorating.

She said: "I was the first woman in West Yorkshire to qualify and get my advanced City and Guilds in painting and decorating.

"It was very much seen as a man's trade in those days.

"I was also the first woman to lecture in the college's construction department.

"But I've been returned since I was 50. Now, I just enjoy life.

"I play badminton and go to the gym and I wouldn't dream of doing my own decorating at home.

"I felt, however, that I could give up a day of my time to do some community work. It's a brilliant idea."

Raymond Mills, of the Lions, said: "We put down dust sheets and got out our ladders, rollers and brushes.

"We did two coats and waited for it to dry, before returning this morning to apply a third coat.

"We also freshened up skirtings and door frames with white gloss."