A VOLUNTEER day at a Dartmoor farm specialising in residential experiences has been hailed as a success as a group of accountants put away their laptops and became farmers for a day.

The Devon branch of KPMG, a global organisation of independent firms providing audit, tax and advisory services, rolled up their sleeves and got to work on a multitude of outdoor tasks at Shallowford Farm.

The group of 16 spent the day, which was facilitated by the charity Promoting Children In Plymouth (PCIP), at the Widecombe-in-the-Moor farm moving more than ten tonnes of compost onto raised beds in the vegetable garden, as well as cutting a significant section of gorse down to ground level to enhance the habitat for the Marsh Fritillary butterflies.

Meghan Saundry, Audit Assistant Manager at KPMG, said: ‘At KPMG we are proud to partner with PCIP and support the incredible work it is doing to improve the lives of children in Plymouth.

‘We all thoroughly enjoyed the day’s work at Shallowford Farm, especially knowing that children from the PCIP programme will enjoy outdoor experiences there this spring.’

Fiona Lambeck, Shallowford Farm’s Manager, said: ‘It was such a superb team effort, and we made great strides in preparing the kitchen garden ready for the children’s groups to plant up and enjoy.

‘Our thanks to our volunteers and the group from KPMG for their support - their enthusiasm and energy was amazing!’

The volunteers were rewarded with a lunch of home made soup, Shallowford Farms own sausages and a spiced rhubarb cake.

Shallowford Farm is a charity that specialises in day and residential experiences for children and young adults and is focussed on reconnecting children from all backgrounds with farming and the countryside.

If you are a school or youth group and would like more details, email: [email protected]