Cheerful cast members from a performing international youth group yesterday hung up their dancing shoes and picked up their cooking utensils and paint brushes to help the local community.

The Up With People participants were welcomed by Mayor of Hamilton William de V. Frith on the front steps of City Hall before splitting up into teams and heading off to Westmeath Seniors Home and Pembroke Rest Home.

There they joined employees from sponsors Centre Solutions (Bermuda) Ltd. and Zurich International Ltd. in preparing a barbecue lunch for the residents and washing windows and painting.

The community service day is the first of 12 that the 45 students from a dozen nations will undertake during their 21-day stay on the Island.

The cast members will also visit The Haven, Spice Valley Middle School and the Devonshire Rest Home and take part in the Middle-to-End Walk from Hamilton to the Royal Naval Dockyard on Saturday. They will also join Keep Bermuda Beautiful and Esso employees tomorrow in a clean up of Ferry Point Park.

Other sponsors of the community service days include Oil Insurance, the National Drug Commission and the ACE Group of Companies.

And the cast will hold their free concert entitled Roads at the Dockyard on May 9 with a sneak preview sponsored by Bank of Bermuda set for Harbour Nights on May 5 in Hamilton.