A GROUP of crafty pensioners have put their skills to good use and helped care for Dudley Zoo's feathered friends.

Members of the Senior Citizens Enterprise Woodwork Group, based at Meadow Road Youth Centre, Dudley, have spent the last six weeks building bird, bat and penguin boxes and bird tables after contacting conservation officer, Chris Leeson, offering their services.

Chris said: “We’re really thankful to the group members, who were all willing to offer their services freely and build the boxes for us.

“Their talents have saved us hundreds of pounds if we’d have had to buy the boxes ourselves and they’ve created happy homes for our animals."

He added: “We’re looking forward to working with them on future projects and have invited them on site to come and see their handiwork in use.”

Group chairman, 82-year-old William Darby, added: “We were glad to be of help and have really enjoyed making the bird and bat boxes, especially the penguin boxes, as we’ve never made one of those before and it’s lovely when you know they’re going to such a good cause.”

The group meet Monday to Thursday from 9am to 2.30pm at the youth centre and hand craft everything from clocks to benches and rocking horses.

For more details, call William on 01384 620396 or email wdarby@sky.com.