A WILDLIFE centre in Kilbirnie has received support from the local Tesco in creating a new woodland walkway for visitors.

Tesco Kilbirnie has adopted Hillhead Pets Corner and Outdoor Learning Centre as its local charity and staff from the store have been busy helping to transform the centre’s pathway into a wildlife woodland walkway.

James Smith, chairperson at Hillhead Pets Corner and Outdoor Learning Centre, told the Herald: “The local Tesco wanted to help a community project and so they approached us. They have supported us with getting our outdoor wildlife walkway fitted. They’re footing the bill for everything and they’ve been down here with volunteers working on it. It’s good that they’ve got a lot of volunteers in their staff. Even the store manager has been here hammering away!

“Being a wildlife walk, we want to use as much natural products as possible. Decking, when it gets wet, would be slippery and wood-chips go mushy so they’ve went for stones which are much firmer underfoot.

“Having Tesco working in partnership with us is fabulous and is helping our charity a great deal, which will help the community too.

“The new walkway will support visitors and groups with disabilities and others to walk more comfortably around our centre. We can’t thank the team at Tesco enough for this support.”

Hillhead Pets Corner is a registered charity which aims to help vulnerable children, youths, adults and families to increase their quality of life by experiencing the outdoors and expressing themselves with animals and woodland in a safe and controlled environment.

Andrew Mexson, store manager at Tesco Kilbirnie, told the Herald: “This year I decided that we should be doing more with the community and thought we would adopt a local charity that needed our help. A few customers had mentioned Hillhead Pets Corner so I went up to James and proposed that we should be an ally, that we should adopt his pets corner as a charity.

“It’s a very worthwhile cause – I think James does a tremendous job with the pets corner in allowing vulnerable children to come and pet the animals.

“We’ve helped them with food for the pets and donated some buckets and a wheelbarrow but a pathway was something that they needed.

“There is a marked pathway where the ground has been trodden down but that gets muddy and it’s not easy for wheelchairs.

“We’ve made a purpose built walkway for local groups and the community to enjoy.”