Kevin Davies went along to Sunnyside Resident's Association to meet the current Prince's Trust team
Club captain Kevin Davies attended the official re-opening of a community house in Great Lever last week in his role as Bolton Wanderers Prince's Trust ambassador.The refurbishment and gardening work has been carried out by Bolton Team 29, the current group of 16-26 year olds undertaking a 12-week development programme delivered by Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service and The Prince's Trust.
Kevin met the group at the end of their community project where they proudly showed off the work they had carried out in the garden and rooms of Sunnyside Residents' Association before he was asked to cut the red ribbon to declare the community house re-open.
Bolton Team 29 carried out fundraising work in order to generate the money needed to carry out the redecoration work. The team, made up of 12 members and two leaders, raised £648 by bag-packing at Marks and Spencer in Middlebrook as well as holding a 'Guess the name of the teddy bear' competition at Farnworth Fire Station's open day in early July - the winner of which was chosen at random by Kevin.
The money raised enabled the group to spend two weeks renovating Sunnyside Residents' Association and, during their time there, they created an allotment in the garden for the local children to grow their own food as well as planting flowers, cleaning graffiti, making and painting a fence and also creating storage areas for the community building.
The Prince's Trust team also cleared out and redecorated the communal lounge and upstairs study area of the house for the use of local community groups.
Wanderers star Kevin has been the Club's Prince's Trust ambassador for six seasons and his role sees him meet numerous times with each Bolton Team during their 12-week development programme which sees them undertake work experience placements, drug and alcohol awareness workshops, CV and interview technique classes as well as gaining qualifications to help them progress in their search for employment.
Kevin was recognised for his work with The Prince's Trust earlier this year when he was invited to a celebration event at St James' Palace by Prince Charles.
After congratulating Bolton Team 29 on their outstanding renovation work, Kevin said:
"I'm delighted to have been able to come along to Sunnyside Resident's Association today and witness first-hand the fantastic work that these Prince's Trust members have carried out. They did a great job with their fundraising efforts and it's clear that they have all worked really hard to improve this building.
"I always enjoy following the Team's through their programme and seeing them develop as individuals but also as a team - that's why I support these projects as I know that the young people really benefit from the programme and the statistics about the number of those involved who then go onto full-time employment are really impressive."
The 12week course is being run by GMFRS who have been working with the Prince's Trust for the past nine years. The programme is to help the 16-26 year olds develop self-confidence and the social skills that it is hoped will give them the chance to pursue the careers of their choice.