Putting power into Gledfield primary's paintwork

23rd July 2015

A primary school in the Highlands is looking forward to starting term time with a fresh outlook, thanks to a team from Scottish Hydro Electric Transmission (SHE Transmission).

The team of nine joined forces with contracting colleagues from Siemens BAM to repaint the nursery wall and sheds at Gledfield Primary School in Ardgay as part of their Be the Difference day, which enables SHE Transmission employees to take a day away from the office to help local projects.

Paint was provided by the school's parent committee with the roller brushes and dust sheets being supplied by Siemens BAM, and there was even enough paint and energy left at the end of the day for the team to re-stain the children's picnic benches.

SHE Transmission Construction Manager Barry MacKenzie was part of the team and had gone to visit the school ahead of their Be the Difference day. He said: " We all live and work in the local area through working on the Loch Buidhe project and when the school contacted us, we were more than happy to go and see how we could help. It was quite a big job, so we knew we’d need a team to match and there were no shortage of volunteers.

"We completed the job just before the school broke for the summer holidays, so we knew the pupils would be able to see the work and could look forward to coming back at the start of term to a spruced-up school. They were so pleased with the paint work that they made a lovely card to thank us."

Since the launch of SSE's ‘Be the Difference’ volunteering programme, it has helped over 2,500 projects, with SHE Transmission’s employees dedicating their time to projects that matter in the communities where they live and work.

The project at Loch Buidhe will see the construction of a new substation north of Bonar Bridge, with another at Fyrish, near Alness, while the wires on the western side of the existing Loch Buidhe to Beauly overhead line will also be replaced.