Kind-hearted volunteers in Dumbarton showed why they are a cut above the rest recently by providing free haircuts for kids preparing to go back to school.

Having heard about free lunches at The Phoenix in Castlehill, two local hairdressers approached the community centre about the possibility of using their skills to also give something back.

Diz Stratton and Samantha Dempster gave up their time to come along to the centre on August 17 to give kids a smart new look for the new school year.

Two satisfied customers, Lucy and Skylar, even got their first ever haircuts to help set them up nicely for their first day of P1 and nursery, respectively.

Read more: Phoenix to hold first community day in Castlehill

Diz told the Reporter: "It's been a lovely day alongside Samantha. It's nice using my skills to give back to my community.

"I've even offered to come back once a month at The Phoenix's community lunches on a Friday and cut senior citizens' hair for free too."

The centre has been a hive of activity over the holidays with with everything from exercise classes, dance camps, community cafe, cinema nights, toddler craft sessions to youth leadership courses.

And the services of Diz and Samantha, ensured everyone at the Phoenix finished off the summer on a high.

Oli Higham, pastor of Rock Community Church who run the centre, said: "Summer at The Phoenix has been fantastic. We've had a lot of fun and had the privilege of working alongside local residents to put something really exciting together for the communities of Dumbarton West."

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Kirsty Lee, the new community activities coordinator, added: "I've just started in the role over the summer but coming in and seeing the warmth and genuine sense of community excites me.

"I've been busy planning with our amazing youth team volunteers for our Youth Cafe nights for the new term on Mondays from 6.30pm-8.30pm for P4-7s and Thursdays from 6.30-8.30 for S1-4s.

"My highlight for the summer have been the free lunches for kids.

"We've partnered with West Dunbartonshire Council's Holiday Hunger Programme and provided close to 300 free lunches over the nine days we ran the lunch programme.

"We also offered a free play session with Xbox, wii, table tennis, crafts and Lego to keep the kids busy while they enjoyed some sandwiches, pizza and watermelon.

"It's tough being a parent during the holidays so offering that support is vital."

The centre has it's community day on Saturday, August 24 from 12-4pm with stalls, activities, kids corner, bouncy castle, archery, cafe and a few surprises.

The new programme, available at rockcommunitychurch.org.uk/phoenix includes youth cafe, toddler and parent activities, art groups, community events, fitness classes and community meals.