It was National Volunteering Week that inspired a team from Visualsoft to offer their services to Daisy Chain.
And they were delighted they did when they found themselves on a 5.5-acre farm complete with animals and green open spaces that they had not even known existed in Norton.
Visualsoft has introduced a #LifeAtVS group which is headed up by Cheryl Young and meets regularly to organise everything from charity events and wellness events to fun Friday afternoon activities.
Cheryl explains, ‘I was aware of Daisy Chain having seen the store on Portrack Lane on passing but had no idea of the full scale of the chaity until I made the call to see how we could help out. We wanted to provide as much help as we could during National Volunteers week and Daisy Chain was a solid choice being right on our doorstep.
‘When I made the call to Daisy Chain they were delighted to hear from us and how we wanted to help and between us we arrange for someone from Daisy Chain to come into the office, meet the staff, sell merchandise and raffle tickets which was great and the staff really enjoyed it.’
Louise Walsh from Billingham was one of the volunteers and says, ‘It is an amazing place, with incredible facilities. We had a fantastic time. I would recommend it to anyone. The Daisy Chain staff were brilliant and really looked after us well – the sun even shone for us. We did a lot of weeding and prepared a new herb border as well as planting cucumbers. It was hard physical work but very rewarding knowing we were helping the environment for families who are affected by autism.’