VOLUNTEERS from across Oxford rolled up their sleeves to give Blackbird Leys's biggest primary school a lick of paint last week.

A team of staff from Clydesdale Bank in Botley got stuck in alongside local parents to paint the 300m fence around Pegasus School a tasteful shade of forest green.

Their efforts on Friday took place to mark Give & Gain Day, a national event which encourages local businesses up and down the country to help improve their areas.

Clydesdale's head of Reading and Oxford centres, Mark Laughlan, was among the Clydesdale staff getting their hands dirty on the day.

He said: "We are part of the same community and it's rewarding to know that we can play a part in contributing to that community.

"The fence was sanded down and then painted afterwards. We met the headteacher, Francis, and the other staff, who are very caring and very committed to the school."

Overall about 20 people worked on the perimeter fence, aiming to paint 260 posts and 520 horizontal supports over just six hours.

About half was completed, but parents have vowed to return as soon as headteacher Francis Murphy and support staff return from a trip to Snowdonia next week.

Paula Bolton, 33, whose five-year-old son Ashley attends the school in Pegasus Road, said she had come down as she was on maternity leave and had some spare time.

She said: "I'm not a painter at all normally, but I thought it would be nice to help out. It's a very good school and if I can help them save money that's good.

"The fence was in need of repainting; only half of it can be seen because it's very rusted and there was a lot of moss on it. It looks much better now."

In March Pegasus, which has 490 pupils on roll, celebrated after being named a good school by Ofsted inspectors, the first rating since it became an academy in 2013.

Ms Bolton, who only recently moved to Greater Leys, added: "My son has been there for about three months but the stuff they do for kids is great.

"It heavily subsidises them so it's not just the rich kids that get to go on trips, and the Ofsted gave us more confidence."

About 15,000 business volunteers across the world gave almost 74,000 hours volunteering time on Friday for National Give & Gain Day.

The event is organised by national charity Business in the Community, which recently surveyed 2,000 adults and found just 10 per cent had volunteered in work time.

Chief executive Stephen Howard said: “Businesses are being increasingly strategic about volunteering as a way to not only make a difference but also to build skills and gain insight about their communities.

"Yet just 10% of people polled had volunteered in work time, highlighting a huge untapped opportunity for business to take employee volunteering seriously.

"Doing so will not only help attract the next generation of talent, but it will also create communities that are better places to live, work and do business.”