Had you found yourself in the grounds of St Ronan's Care Home last Thursday, you would have been forgiven for thinking that Ground Force was back on TV and filming their latest episode from the Innerleithen Old Folks’ Home.

Alan Titchmarsh and co were nowhere to be seen, but the workers that were there have left behind a legacy which will improve the lives of residents for many years to come.

St Ronan's are the beneficiaries of a community project run by CBA Events, who organise events for corporate clients, including team building exercises. Normally these consist of fun outings such as quad biking and clay pigeon shooting, but in this instance they opted for a task which will benefit the community.

Their client, Infrastructure Managers Limited, undertook the task of renovating the garden areas all the way around the home.

Tim Greens from CBA Events headed up the project. He explained: “Traditionally we have done a lot of fun tasks.

"But here we wanted to do something a bit different. So the client are not just having fun – they are doing something which is a bit more sustainable and has tangible results.

“We identified this as a place we would like to come to help. The residents like to be outside so the outdoor space is incredibly important.

“It’s a huge amount of work to complete in a day and we’re working everybody very hard but spirits are good and at the end of it there is going to be a brilliant legacy from the day and people are going to benefit from it.”

With a large number of dementia sufferers living there, a perimeter fence was erected to prevent them from wandering into the street, making it safer for them to enjoy the outdoor areas.

And a sunhouse was installed in the garden to create another area for residents to be able to spend time away from the home itself.

A staff member had heard about the project and manager Cheryl Bremner, along with the residents, put together a bid in the hope that they would be chosen. They were successful ahead of other bidders because the organisers saw it as a worthy cause.

The home were then able to choose certain features which they felt they could benefit from, and the only part they have had to pay for is the summer house.

Cheryl told the Peeblesshire News: “We have been looking forward to this day immensely and everyone is very excited.

“The staff do a great job inside the home but the gardens have always been quite huge for us to tackle and while we’ve tried, we’ve never really been able to do that much with it.

“We are really proactive in promoting exercise and all residents are encouraged to go outside when the weather is good.

“Keeping active enhances the quality of life for residents by making outside areas attractive, vibrant and cognitively stimulating.

“We have no gardener and our budget only allows for the bare minimum, so the work being carried out is of vital importance.”

A sensory memory garden, raised flower beds and some other sculptures and decorations were added, as well as general maintenance work to paths, flower pots and borders.

And another seating area with a new path was also created for residents, while the shed used by staff was restored.

Resident Cathy Lochrie is delighted with the new garden. She said: “It will be lovely with the flowers and everything else that’s going to be there. It really is nice.

“It’s been lovely to see all the work going on and the workmen have all had smiles on their faces.”

Fellow resident Betty Hall added: “It’s going to be a big change to everything. It’s really exciting.”