Cardiff and Vale College student Briony set to take her carpentry skills to Swaziland
A Carpentry student from Cardiff and Vale College is set to travel to Africa to support an initiative which supports projects that alleviate poverty through creating opportunities for women and children.
Sixteen-year-old Briony Adams will fly out to Swaziland this Easter to volunteer for the SAFE Foundation and Positive Women, who work on a number of projects to promote social change in the country.
“I will be teaching kids to make little things out of wood that they can sell rather than selling themselves for food or a place to sleep,” Briony said. “There are two charities involved – Positive Women and the SAFE Foundation. They’re amazing and do such great work.”
Positive Women is based in Swaziland and works with local organisations to bring about effective and sustainable change through healthcare and nutrition programmes and investing in creating skills, tools and opportunities that allow people to fulfil their potential. The SAFE Foundation assists in the provision of grants of money and materials to combat poverty in developing countries. The two bodies will pay for Briony’s flights, injections and accommodation.
Briony found out about the Swaziland project almost by accident.
“I don’t check my email as often as I should but one night I thought I look through them,” she explained. “I was going through and I saw an email to my College account asking for people who could teach carpentry skills and I thought ‘Oh my God – I’m going to Africa!’ So it was through chance and my Cardiff and Vale College student email account.
“I got in touch with the SAFE Foundation and Positive Women and did my research; 15% of the population are vulnerable children and they often head the household, and 75% don’t have a toilet. It’s very upsetting.”
Travelling out in April, Briony will spent three weeks in a rural community in Swaziland teaching vulnerable children to make wooden items they can sell to support themselves. She aims to continue working with the SAFE Foundation when she returns.
“I’m so excited to be going,” Briony said. “I will be able to help people who haven’t had the kind of opportunities that I have had – we take things for granted and don’t really realise until something like this happens and you find out about it.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
- Photo shows Briony Adams in one of the Carpentry workshops at CAVC’s Barry Campus
- in 2016 CAVC won the prestigious UK-wide Association of Colleges Beacon Award for its innovative and sector leading apprenticeship provision
- Cardiff and Vale College is one of the top companies for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the National Centre for Diversity’s 2016 Top 100 Index. It has also been awarded the National Centre for Diversity’s Award for Welsh FE College of the Year 2016
- CAVC has been shortlisted for the TES College of the Year Award – the winner will be announced in February 2017
- Cardiff and Vale College was awarded College of the Year at the 2015 and 2016 Insider Business and Education Partnership Awards
- Apply now to join CAVC in Sept 2017
- Why not follow the latest updates from Cardiff and Vale College on Facebook.com/CardiffandValeCollege, Instagram @cavcinsta or Twitter @cavc
For more information contact:
Chris Baker
Communications Officer
Tel: 01446 725003. Mob: 07932 770938
Responses