COMMUNITY spirit has been praised after a Samaritans’ appeal to help refurbish an interview room was carried out free of charge.

The mid Cheshire branch of the charity, based in Manchester Road, Northwich, was left without funds after damp in the building cost £2,900 to repair.

An appeal was issued on social media to refurbish the interview room, which was the worst affected area of the building.

Matthew Blower, from Middlewich, was the first to answer the call and fitted a carpet the following day while Mark Phoenix, from Hartford, fixed window blinds a few days later.

Carrie Musa, branch director, said: “We call it the face-to-face room and it is for anyone who wants to speak in person rather than over the phone.

“We were desperate to get it refurbished as soon as possible. The whole building was shut for a week while the damp was fixed but we couldn’t let anyone in this particular room until now.

“It was important to make sure the room had a comfortable feeling so that we could encourage people to open up.

“Our budget went on repairing the damp, so we put out an appeal online to see what the best prices would be or whether somebody could donate a small piece of the carpet for us to use.

“The phone never stopped ringing with offers to help but Matthew actually just turned up the next day and fitted the carpet.

“Then Mark came a couple of days later and we now have a fully refurbished room. It’s a brilliant show of the community coming together.”

Matthew said: “I saw the post online and had some time so thought it would be the right thing to do.

“There is always a lot of talk when these appeals go out but I had a spare hour so decided to act on it.

“It wasn’t a massive deal but I think if everyone gave an hour a week to do something different to help then we would live in a much better place.

“It’s a nice feeling that someone else has benefitted from this.”