Young carers get a welcome boost

Young carers from Cardiff and the Vale ‘Crossroads Project’ took delivery of some new tools and resources for their allotment project recently.

 

Thanks to a donation from Western Power Distribution, the group who are also supported by the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers manage an allotment plot at Pengam Pavilion Allotments.

 

The young carers are aged between 8 and 15 and often the carer for younger siblings or in some cases the main carer for a parent. The Crossroads Project brings this group together each Tuesday after school and allows them time away from often stressful situations and the responsibility of home life.

 

Stephanie Thompson, BTCV Community Projects Officer explains: “BTCV started working with this group in March 2010 and helped them acquire the allotment. It was an abandoned plot, totally overgrown so we needed to do a lot of clearance work before we could start thinking about growing vegetables.

 

Everyone worked really hard and the new allotment started to take shape. As well as the raised beds we built for vegetables we wanted to plant some fruit trees and buy some equipment suitable for the youngsters to use. This donation from WPD will make a huge difference to the project and the fruit trees will enable the children to harvest what they grow and take home to their families.

April 2011