West Lothian farm helps youngsters build social skills away from the classroom

A charity in West Lothian is helping youngsters to build their social skills away from a traditional classroom environment.

Cyrenians runs a farm near Kirknewton, West Lothian, known as the green skill centre.

It offers accredited courses on eight acres of land with a focus on learning outdoors and building relationships.

“A lot of young people don’t really do classroom education, it doesn’t really work for lots of people”, outdoor education officer Sam Gardiner told STV News.

“So what we’re able to do is give people the chance to get outside, get into the woodlands, chop some wood, make some things with knives, and have an opportunity to socialise with other young people.

“A lot of these young people have been failed by a lot of things. They haven’t had a lot of life opportunities, and they missed out on a lot of play and growing with their peers.”

Cyrenians targets young people currently unsupported by mainstream education and traditional career pathways.

Referrals are mostly made for people between the ages of 15 and 24, with some exceptions, and class sizes are kept low.

Sean, 24, wasn’t sure what to do next when he left school, so he started on a volunteer scheme of work experience with the charity.

He had the chance to work in digital inclusion, administration, marketing and communication.

Sean, who is now studying at college, told STV News: “I had no clue what I wanted to do in the first place.

“Doing voluntary work gave me a better sense of what I wanted to do in the future. It’s not just the work itself, it’s the support you get with it.

“They put you at the centre of it, know what your strengths and weaknesses are, and what you want to improve on.”

Learners at the farm help pack fruit and vegetable bags, which are sold to local residents on a subscription basis.

Enterprise coordinator Daniel Forward said: “They’ll be working here on the farm in the polytunnels. They’ll be harvesting, weeding and planting all the food we grow.

“There are four orchards worth of apples that need picking. All the volunteers and people we support here gather the produce that we put into our bags every week.

“We’ve got over 100 customers at the moment, we’re normally doing about 60 bags per week.”