A GROUP of dedicated volunteers have spent the weekend serving their community as part of an annual No Strings event.

Members of the Influence Church, based in Victoria Road, Richmond, took to the streets to clean, repair and give out free gifts – all with no strings attached.

The church has been organising the event for the last 12 years, and this year has partnered with Richmondshire District Council in preparing the town to compete in Britain in Bloom through weeding footpaths and cleaning community areas.

This years events involved hundreds of volunteers assisting three primary schools, gardening for elderly residents, graffiti cleaning and litter picking.

The church also gave away hundreds of free gifts to the public including flowers and cookies.

Ben Dowding, senior pastor of Influence Church, said: “We love Richmond and we love being part of the community here. No Strings is just our way of showing that to the town. We’ve always been a church who believes in putting our faith in to action. We hope people have been blessed by what they’ve seen or received today.”

Influence Church, which also has congregations in Barnard Castle and Penrith, simultaneously ran projects in all three towns on one day, with around 250 volunteers.

Influence Church has weekly Sunday services in Richmond at 11am and also has weekly children's, youth and community events.

For more information on No Strings or Influence Church visit: www.influencechurch.co.uk or find them on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.