Students lend their muscles to help Amelia Trust Farm

A group of 11 Cardiff Met students donned their wellies and descended on a farm to volunteer for the day last week. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The project took place at Amelia Trust, which is a working farm in the Vale of Glamorgan. The farm provides an alternative education for vulnerable and disadvantaged young people and is also open up to the public who can enjoy looking around the farm. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

When students arrived for the day, staff from Amelia Trust gave them a background to the organisation and gave a tour of the animals. Students then set to work and split off into different teams. One group created a new path for access to the farm’s new camping area. Another team went into the woodland and worked hard to dig out footings for a new fitness trail while the other group mucked out the farm’s flock of chickens’ house. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The farm heavily relies on volunteers to exist and they were very appreciative of the students’ help. Jo Whitfield, who is Environment Education and Events Coordinator at Amelia Trust said, “the amount of work achieved was amazing!” ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The project was part of Student Volunteering & Employability week, where opportunities across the university were highlighted in order to encourage students to get involved in workshops and projects that will give them the chance to boost their CV and to support the local community. ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

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The farm project was organised by UMAX in the Students’ Union, who run volunteer projects for students to take part in. Other projects which have taken place this academic year include a beach clean, Christmas card making for poorly children in hospital, litter picks and a homeless dog walking project. The Students’ Union is planning on organising another volunteer day at the farm this academic year. For information on this, please email acampbell@cardiffmet.ac.uk ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

Visit the UMAX volunteering webpage to find out more about volunteer opportunities offered to students: http://www.cardiffmetsu.co.uk/umax/employability/volunteering/ ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​