STUDENTS have been revamping the outside area of a local primary school as part of National Student Volunteering Week.

Teesside University volunteers spent time at Breckon Hill Primary School sprucing up the playground tunnels, planting new raised flower beds and weaving willow trees.

The students are on the university's Volun-tees programme which aims to support staff, students and recent graduates to take part in volunteering.

This academic year Volun-tees members have amassed more than 5,500 hours of volunteering at organisations, including the Samaritans, Unicorn Centre and Victim Support.

The project at Breckon Hill Primary School involved 12 student volunteers and took place in conjunction with National Student Volunteering Week, which ran from February 23 to March 1.

During the day support was on hand from One Planet Middlesbrough who helped a team of year six pupils to compost waste paper and banana skins and apple cores from the daily fruit provision.

Sam Piggot, one of the student volunteers, said: “It was a lot of fun - it feels good to help people in my free time and it's a great way to gain experience and build confidence in different working environments."