SCHOOLCHILDREN are discovering more about the joys of gardening - with the help of technology company 3M.

The company's Northallerton site donated £400 to the town’s Broomfield primary school help buy tools, seeds and fruit trees for its Green Club, which has 16 members and meets once a week.

Ten 3M volunteers also put their backs into an afternoon's labouring to prepare the ground for the children to get planting.

Teacher Dave Simpson, who runs the club, said the idea was to increase the children's awareness of the environment and learn where their food comes from.

"It’s going to be an organic food garden so the children can actually get to enjoy the fruits of their labour," he said.

"They're very enthusiastic and the support from 3M has been a great encouragement for them."

3M, which makes high performance protective coatings at its Standard Way site, runs a volunteer programme that gives all employees the opportunity to carry out community work on company time.

The site’s environmental health and safety engineer Tony Everett organised the volunteer working party for the school.

"It’s a great idea for the children to have their own garden to look after and we were very pleased to be able to help," he said.