Bird feeders wing their way to Dr Kershaw’s

OUR gift to the hospice . . . Kickstart director Adrian Ball and Sarah Bannister, from Greater Manchester Youth Network, hand over the bird feeders with some of the volunteers who helped make them

PATIENTS at Dr Kershaw’s Hospice can look forward to seeing a little more of the local birdlife, thanks to a group of young volunteers.

The kind-hearted bunch donated two bird feeders, which they designed and built themselves, to the Royton hospice to place in its new sensory garden.

The gift came from the group of young unemployed people to mark the end of a six-month Greater Manchester youth network project. They created the feeders in metal workshops set up in conjunction with Kickstart Oldham, in a bid to teach them skills to help them get a job.

The project also introduced them to the benefits of volunteering, and they got the chance to try their hand at willow coppicing in Daisy Nook Country Park, footpath and canal clearance with the British Waterways Trust, and training to become an instructor with Oldham Community Leisure.

Thanking the group for their gift, Barry Ulyatt, Dr Kershaw’s volunteer co-ordinator, said: “It’s great to see so many people getting involved in bringing pleasure and beauty for our patients to enjoy.”