A team of parents and supporters of St Martin-in-Meneage School have given the buildings and grounds a facelift as they continue their fight against closure.

Although the school's directors voted last month to apply to the Department for Education for permission to shut the school, the Friends of St Martin-in-Meneage School group is still hoping to turn that around.

To help their cause, the group held a community tidy-up day on Sunday, with the aim of smartening up the school grounds.

Around 30 people attended, each taking on different jobs. Fortunately the weather was kind and the volunteers kept working all day.

Local farmers strimmed the grounds and cleared the build up of debris around the playground. Other members of the community repaired the front wall and tidied up the front hedge, while a team of workers sanded the long fence around the infant outside area and then stained it, along with the two Wendy houses and other wooden buildings.

A group of parents wood stained the bench, bird table and painted the wooden train, as well as cleaning the signs. The steps going up into the classrooms were re-painted and a compost store was built, with lots of junk and broken items removed from the site.

Gear Farm supplied pasties for the works, while other refreshments included homemade cakes baked by St Martin parishioners.

The group said: "The event really brought the community together and everyone said how much they had enjoyed the day. The Friends of St Martin School hope to arrange to return soon so that they can continue to improve the state of school grounds."

The Friends group is now looking forward to its Harvest Fair at the school on Friday, September 8, starting at 5pm. There will be a range of activities on offer, particularly for children, including art and craft activities by The Creation Station, face painting, a straw maze, old fashioned games such as a coconut shy and splat the rat, a bouncy castle, and family photographs by Claire Hosken.

There will also be a raffle and tombola, as well as competitions such as guess the weight of the cake made by Ann Hoskin, and everyone is invited to guess the number of balloons in an actual tractor.

The evening will be rounded off with an It’s A Knockout style competition, including a greasy pole.

Anyone wishing to book a stand for the table top sale, for a £5 fee, should contact Sheila Chandler at The Old Withy Garden Nursery on 01326 221171 or email oldwithy@gmail.com.

Sheila will also be collecting any donations for the books and plants stalls.