SSE has assisted with the refurbishment of a key woodland footpath in Perthshire.

Nine volunteers from the firm's Head Office worked alongside Perth and Kinross Council's Community Greenspace team to upgrade the path network.

Greenspace Rangers work with volunteers to improve and develop public green spaces, and this includes those paths located throughout the countryside.

The route which SSE helped with, is an important link to the local transport network between Redgorton and the surrounding area, but the paths had become waterlogged. As part of the initiative, volunteers worked to dig drainage and re-shape the track.

Alex Cook, Chairman of the Community Council, said: "The SSE team did a great job for us. It was long overdue and a classic case of many hands making lighter work of a very physically demanding job.

-- Advertisement --

"The Council do not have the fund to maintain the path and rely on the efforts of the community to maintain the whole core path network."

He continued: "Prior to the assistance of the SSE volunteers the path was covered in about four inches of mud and rotting vegetation as well as brambles and thorns. The assistance provided has made a huge difference to people in Redgorton in providing not only a safe and equitable access to public transport but also restoring the beauty and ambience of the wooded and historical glade."

Owen MacKenzie, a Test Analyst at SSE's Perth office, added: "My colleagues and I were delighted to get the opportunity to improve this path which is important to the local community. Our volunteering days through 'Community at Heart' mean a lot to us and this was a perfect example of what we can achieve with a bit of hard graft and dedicated team-work."

SSE's 'Community at Heart' programme encourages staff to take one day every year out of their ordinary working lives to volunteer in their community and help worthy causes in their local area.

(JP/IT)