A GROUP dedicated to harnessing the skills and volunteering resources of local businesses for community initiatives is growing at “a phenomenal rate”, councillors have heard.

Darlington Cares – which was launched in 2012 by five local employers now has a membership of 27 – provided 4,800 hours of volunteering involving 978 volunteers across 99 projects in the town last year.

The initiative runs programmes ranging from a ‘busy readers’ scheme, which assists children with their literacy skills, to supporting the food bank and environmental projects.

Darlington Borough Council director Seth Pearson told the authority’s health and partnerships scrutiny committee the initiative, which is self-funding with members contributing to its costs, had set a target of 5,500 hours of volunteering this year.

He added: “We are going to smash that. We have got 3,900 hours already programmed in for this year.”

Mr Pearson said Darlington Cares’ Pick Pie and a Pint scheme, in which volunteers clear litter in the town centre before having a pub meal, had proved particularly popular.

He said: “If you have 50 people with high-visibility jackets on in the town it really does make a statement about people caring for it. People wind down their windows and shout support.”

Mr Pearson said Darlington Cares firms would next week bid hundreds of hours of volunteering to secure their support for four of Darlington’s parks. They will then work with the park groups to develop a schedule of work.