The Clydesdale Bank employees donned their work gloves, grabbed their litter pickers and pitched in at Bowling beach last week.

Supported by Scottish Business in the Community and Scottish Canals, the team cleared numerous bags of rubbish and trimmed vegetation to improve access from the nearby canal basin to the beach.

Using ceramic, glass, driftwood and rocks found during the clean-up, the group created a mosaic of a Kelpie – the mythological Scots water horse.

As the western gateway to the Forth & Clyde Canal, the mosaic forms a counterpoint to the 30-metre-tall Kelpies sculptures that stand at the eastern end of the waterway as part of the Helix in Grangemouth. Joyce MacFarlane, company manager of Creative Branch Scotland, said: “I have been working with Scottish Business in the Community for over 10 years, working with teams of employee volunteers from the banking sector.

“We have worked with Gavinburn Primary and are getting ready to clean up around Loch Lomond and the Glasgow Sculpture Studios with other teams.

“The volunteers have done a phenomenal job working in local communities around Scotland and work really hard on a variety of challenges, using the chance to make positive local changes as a team building day. This really makes a difference to the local area and is a creative approach to helping schools and communities improve their environment.”