SCHOOL children have been lending a hand in Alveston to help transform the village.

Pupils from St Helen’s Primary School have been helping to plant new bulbs in and around the Alveston Parade on Greenhill ready for the spring.

The planting is part of a much larger £5,000 project to rejuvenate the small shopping area, which acts as a main focal point for the village.

The parade has mostly independent traders including the award winning Perry and Son Butchers, Hilberts Fruit and Vegetable store and the Alveston Post Office. The shops are also close to the village school, Jubilee Hall and St Helen’s Church.

Members of the Alveston Community Forum, which was formed in response of the Alveston Parish Plan, have put together a scheme to tidy the area and make it more appealing to visitors.

Improvements to be made include repairing a wall by the main steps to the shops and putting a hand rail along side them, repairing paving slabs, removing a tree, enlarging the flower bed, planting several new trees and putting in seating for shoppers.

Peter Waller, chairman of the parade working party, said: "This area provides a nice centre to the village and it would be nice to make more of it.

"The Community Forum was set up last year to tackle some of the issues raised through the parish plan consultation, which included developing the parade into a focal point for villagers."

Much of the work at the parade will be done by volunteers who will then maintain the site.

However, the project has already received support in the way of grants from Oldbury Power Station, which has given £1,000 towards the scheme, and South Gloucestershire Council, which has given £1,200 for health and safety features.

The bulbs planted by the St Helen’s School children last week were donated by Almondsbury Garden Centre.