Green-fingered staff, volunteers, families and friends at Balloch's Robin House were joined by former Blue Peter gardener Chris Collins in a tree-planting ceremony.

Chris was at the children's hospice as part of a nationwide initiative to promote cleaner air and a greener environment in local communities.

The TV gardening guru was also joined by MSPs Jackie Baillie and Patrick Harvie, both supporters of Children’s Hospices Across Scotland (CHAS).

Children from Carousel Nursery in Dumbarton and Lennox Primary School also got their wellies on to help complete the job.

Chris heaped praise on the Robin House garden, saying: “I knew it would be good but Robin House’s garden has totally blown me away.

"I’ve visited hospices before and know how much care and attention goes into them but this has far exceeded what I imagined.

He praised the the Robin House head gardener Maggie Brown and her crew of volunteers for doing an amazing job.

He said: "It’s very varied and there’s so much starting to flourish already this season."

The trees were gifted by green energy supplier Octopus Energy which has given 10,000 trees to more than 500 schools and community groups across the UK.

Maggie said: “At Robin House, we are as environmentally-minded as possible. We reuse, recycle and compost all our own materials.

"We are really grateful for the opportunity to take part in Octopus Energy’s tree planting initiative and to continue transforming the garden space for the benefit of all our families and the environment.”

Green MSP Mr Harvie, whose mother, Rose, has worked as a volunteer at the garden for six years, said: "It’s a really diverse garden with all these nooks and crannies with a lot of delightful character.

"This kind of eco-friendliness is a change that the whole world is going to have to get to grips with.

"A lot of organisations can learn a lot from what CHAS are doing here.”

Ms Baillie said: “I think Robin House is a magical place. Planting trees today has been enormous fun and it was lovely to have the local school and nursery involved. "Everybody’s joined in, it’s a fantastic community effort.”

CHAS works across Scotland to provide its hospice services nationwide for babies, children and young people with life-shortening conditions.

It offers palliative, respite and end-of-life care from Robin House and Rachel House in Kinross.