A group of business advisors have swapped their pens and suits for garden spades and overalls to give a makeover to a local hospice.

Green-fingered staff from business advisory firm Cooper Parry, based in Pride Park, Derby have spent a day helping to transform a neglected area into a functional outdoor space for visitors and residents to the Ashgate Hospice in Chesterfield.

The 12 volunteers spent the whole day helping to transform the garden space at the hospice by removing and digging up moss and weeds and cleaning out the whole area.

Olivia Parrish, Director of Human Resources at Cooper Parry, said: "It's very important to Cooper Parry as a local business that we are a part of and support fully the local community in which we all live and work.

"Ashgate Hospice plays such a big part of the community and plays such a vital role that being able to do something like this for them is an honour and we are all taking away a great feeling of achievement with an aim to keep doing more for local charities like this.

"It was a real pleasure for us to be involved in this project and we hope that all the all the residents and visitors can now enjoy the garden as much as we enjoyed transforming it."

Kathy Hollyer, Chief Executive at Ashgate Hospice, said: "We are really grateful to Cooper Parry and thank them for all their hard work. They have brought a new lease of life to our garden and have helped create a new warm environment for all our residents and visitors."

The garden project is part of a Cooper Parry initiative in which employees take part in volunteering, fundraising and social giving.

For more information about Cooper Parry, please visit their website here: www.cooperparry.com