A TEAM of volunteers swapped phones for trowels as they helped carry out some much-needed improvements at a Crowthorne charity's stables.

Eleven volunteers from Vodafone visited the Disabled Stables at Ravenswood where they helped restore the riding school area, and worked on the general appearance of the stables, including digging out the mounting area which will help ease the transition for wheelchair users when mounting their horse.

The team worked tirelessly throughout the day, enjoying a delicious lunch prepared by the charity's own cafe, and occasionally stopping to chat with Ravenswood residents about the work.

Simon Wooders, The Stables team member, said: “The volunteers worked with enthusiasm, and really cracked on with the jobs. They were a great bunch and it was an absolute joy to have them. Many, many thanks to each and every one of them.”

Stephen Ferguson, Operations Manager at Vodafone, said: “Everyone enjoyed the day. It was an overwhelming success. The feedback I had was that Ravenswood is an amazing place and deserves far more credit for the work it does than it gets. Everyone was impressed by the size of the site, the amount of people you support, the facilities (having stables and horses was a real “wow” factor), the lunch we had, and your enthusiasm.

“One of the residents came down to the stables and was talking to team members, which really brought home who it is we were working for. All that attended have expressed an interest in returning to do further work.”