Over 400 staff at top 20 accountancy firm Kingston Smith LLP swapped their laptops and briefcases for spades and paintbrushes on Friday 7 October, as they worked on community projects at 16 sites across London.

Volunteers at the firm’s annual Challenge Day, which supports schools, charities and community centres in the capital, traded in their City suits to work as gardeners, painters and decorators for the day.

In addition to clearing garden waste, dredging and draining lakes, gardening and decorating, some of the teams, which each comprised 18 to 35 staff from across the firm’s six South East office locations, were busy supervising and helping children make art mosaics to help decorate the exterior of a local primary school.

Other teams spent the day instructing and mentoring year 7 and 8 pupils at a London middle school about a Beat the Bully project. At the end of their Challenge Day, the children presented their own 3-minute anti-bullying campaigns to the volunteers, which each included a campaign name, logo, goal and strategy, as well as projected costs and a mini marketing plan, as part of a Government initiative to help raise awareness about cyber bullying in London.

Michael Snyder, senior partner of Kingston Smith LLP, commented: “I am delighted that we can put something back into the community we work in, especially at a time when not-for-profit organisations are so in need of support. Our staff do a fantastic job, and their sense of excitement and reward was tangible at the team celebration afterwards, as everyone swapped stories about the day’s activities.”

In addition to labour, Kingston Smith LLP contributes at least £500 to each project for materials required for the work.