Swansea City Foundation’s Premier League Kicks participants volunteer at Swansea Community Farm
Swansea City AFC Foundation took Premier League Kicks participants from Gorseinon to volunteer at Swansea Community Farm as part of the programme’s social action initiative.
The aim of the Premier League Kicks social action project is to provide young people with the opportunity to give back to their local community by volunteering at a charity or organisation, and this year the community farm was the chose venue.
The community farm is an award-winning charity, and the only city farm in Wales. It aims to improve wellbeing and develop skills, while also showing young people how to cultivate local food and produce and care for the natural environment.
Work at the farm is done by volunteers, and the Kicks participants - who were joined by club ambassador Lee Trundle - gave up their time during the school holidays to help look after the animals and complete various maintenance tasks, including clearing out the pens, feeding the animals and creating bug-friendly areas within the farm.
“It’s given the participants a chance to develop practical skills they probably wouldn’t get the opportunity to in school, it’s been great for team building and it’s given them different challenges that they’ve overcome,” said Ami Tanikie, Swansea City AFC Foundation's youth voice lead.
“It’s allowed our participants to do something a bit different and fun in their half-term, but it’s also a chance for them to give back to their community.”
The event was led by the farm’s youth and community manager Cerys Jones, and child and youth worker Katie Harkness.
And Jones was grateful for the extra help at Wales' only inner-city community farm.
“We focus on getting young people and adults into nature to give back and look after their mental health and wellbeing, so it’s great to be joined by the Foundation to help them with that,” she said.
“They all got stuck in with the activities, they were a lovely bunch of young people and it was lovely having them with us.”
