CHRISTMAS came early for accountants in Droitwich who took part in a day of wooden reindeer-making for charity.

Eleven members of staff from Ormerod Rutter spent a day last month with members of the local Age UK Men in Sheds scheme helping ‘shedders' make reindeers from logs.

As well as helping produce the wooden creations, Ormerod Rutter also donated the materials - logs and tags - to create them.

Ormerod Rutter has been sponsoring Age UK’s Bromsgrove, Redditch & Wyre Forest’s Men in Sheds scheme for the last year and have just renewed their sponsorship for a second year.

Eliza Bradley, marketing executive for Ormerod Rutter, said: “We were only too happy to continue to sponsor the scheme, but at the time of renewing our sponsorship, we felt we wanted to give that extra bit more this time around.

“Some of us had recently paid the shed a visit, and when we were there, the shedders mentioned to us how they’d struggled to make enough reindeers last year, so we came up with the idea of creating a reindeer workshop where our staff could help them build as many as possible.

“We had a great day helping them kick-start their wooden reindeer collection ready for Christmas. We loved spending time with everyone at the shed, it was a real pleasure to be able to help such a wonderful charity in this way.”

Jo Hughes from Age UK Bromsgrove, Redditch & Wyre Forest, said: “I’d like to say a huge thank you to the Ormerod team for a really enjoyable day and for their continued support of Bromsgrove Men In Sheds.

“We hope that the reindeer day has given them a sense of what the shed is all about - people coming together, sharing their knowledge and experiences and supporting one another to help make a difference!”

Men in Sheds is aimed at encouraging older men to get together and share and learn new skills – all in the welcoming space of a ‘shed.’