THE Delph Pond Forum received a helping hand from Police Scotland Youth Volunteers this week.

In preparation for the upcoming Spring Event, the half a dozen youngsters dug deep on Monday, April 10, to make sure a patch of ground around the small body of water in Tullibody is ready for seeds.

Leading the youngsters was PC Tony Howard, Alloa PSYV, who took the group over just last week. Once properly up and running with more adult volunteers, he hopes the team of young people will be able to help a variety of community projects.

He said: “PSYV is more than happy to help out any community activities that are going on. We are presently in the process of getting the Alloa group back up and running.”

The forum's Spring Event is taking pace on Saturday, April 22, and local families are being invited to enjoy a day out at the local attraction while helping to keep it beautiful.

Thanks to the help of the young volunteers, who were also assisted by community officer PC Leigh Allen, there will be wild flower seed sowing, kids' activities and a woodland quiz, face painting, litter picking, healthy snacks from Tullibody Healthy Living and a stall with Buglife.

Chirs Calder, of the Delph Pond Forum, said the young volunteers' help has been “wonderful”.

She added: “And it gives them ownership. This is trying to encourage younger members of the community to save the environment and take an interest in it and as they get older hopefully they will look after it.”

Janette McGowan, also from the forum, thanked the teenagers for helping out and said: “We would never have been able to dig that through ourselves.”

The Spring Event will take place between noon and 3pm on the day at the Delph Pond, all activities are free.