People are being invited to donate an hour of their time to help with a restoration project in Richmond.

The Richmond Yorkshire Community Interest Company (CIC) is behind the scheme, which hopes to see a heritage feature given a makeover.

Donald Cline, one of the CIC directors, said: “Almost everyone is familiar with the attractive cast iron railings at the top of Frenchgate and around the War Memorial. Sadly, they have been looking rather unloved just lately.”

As the railings are one of the first thing that visitors see when they come to Richmond, the CIC thought it would be nice to have them repainted. Collective memory thinks that it may have been between 15 to 20 years since they were last done.

Donald contacted Richard D Smith, a local firm of painters and decorators, to get a quote for the work.

Richie Smith, owner of the company, visited the site and said: “I’ve been really impressed by the ideas coming from the Richmond CIC and rather than do the railing painting as a ‘paid job’, I said we’d like to get involved by donating our time and expertise.”

The CIC were bowled over by the generous offer, but the work required permission from North Yorkshire Highways, which then led to a short meeting with local councillor Stuart Parsons. He also thought the idea was well worth pursuing and helped to get the necessary approvals to carry out the work – plus some financial help from North Yorkshire Council to meet the cost of supplies.

Richie and his crew are hoping to put in three days of work from Wednesday to Friday, August 7 to 9, depending on the weather.

Because, many hands make light work, the CIC is hoping that the community will also get involved by volunteers offering an hour of time. Everything needed will be supplied including goggles, masks and gloves. Even the paint has been donated by Dulux.

So that volunteer offers can be scheduled in advance, the CIC needs people to register beforehand. A form can be completed online at www.richmondyorkshire.co.uk/paint.

A spokesperson for thee CIC added: "Sometimes people are put off by the complexity of helping out in their own community, but the Paint the Railing Initiative has done all the arranging for this ambition job, and now just need for a few volunteers to join the party. If you can spare an hour, do please sign up."