THEY started off by answering a call to spruce up the Chandler's Ford-based Hampshire and Isle of Wight area office of Marie Curie Cancer Care.

But now three Ford apprentices are hoping to undertake a sponsored sky dive to raise cash for the charity.

Adult apprentice Simon Conway, 35, and Tim Henvest, 19, and Carl Mitch, 17, had their names forwarded to the Eastleigh Volunteer Bureau by Ford's Swaythling plant to fill some "down time" between a holiday period and the start of their new college terms.

They found themselves at the Marie Curie office in Winchester Road, Chandler's Ford, after B&Q at Eastleigh donated the materials for a decorating makeover.

It took the apprentices a week and a half to provide the office with a fresh new image - which has gone down a storm with charity workers. Marie Curie community fundraiser Ray Knight said: "The office has been here five or six years and hasn't been decorated in all that time. It was murky grey wallpaper and we now have the new Marie Curie colours.

"Every penny counts for a charity like ourselves and we wouldn't have been able to do this redecorating if it hadn't been for the materials donated by B&Q and the apprentices giving up their time to do it."

The Ford apprentices agreed that although the job had been "challenging" it had also been thoroughly enjoyable.

And besides volunteering to go back and do more work in the future, the apprentices also revealed that they were hoping to do a sponsored skydive to support the charity.

Anyone interested in the work of Marie Cure Cancer should contact Mr Knight on 023 8026 3123.