A TEAM of some 70 volunteers have spruced up a day centre for people with learning difficulties.

The group painted every wall in Charlton Day Centre, Charlton Village Road, and installed 1,000 tiles, 18 metres of worktops and 12 kitchen cupboards.

The work was done over the Bank Holiday weekend and was organised by 41-year-old champion fundraiser Ray Collins.

Mr Collins, of Springfield Road in Wantage, has been fundraising for the town for the last six years and has raised £31,000 in that time.

He paid for the materials used in the revamp with £6,300 raised from a 24-hour gym session in June.

He said: “It has been a massive job. It is a huge place and it has left me speechless just how hard everyone has worked.”

The work needed doing because the building not been touched for about 10 years and councils did not priorities decorating, he said.

He added: “A lot of the people here have very special needs and the money, rightly, has to be directed to their care.”

Mr Collins has raised funds for other centres and schools in Wantage over the last six years and his team have been dubbed ‘Ray’s DIY SOS’.

He said: “I just like helping the local community, and it is nice to give something back.”

Charlton Day Centre manager Jane Hickman said: “It is just fantastic and it is going to mean a massive amount to the people who use the service.

“We are really privileged to have someone like Ray around.”

Mr Collins said he was now going to rest before deciding on his next fundraising venture, which he said would have an Olympic theme.