Kieran’s Story

My name is Kieran and I have been volunteering with The SAFE Foundation since 2016. The first time I heard about The SAFE Foundation, I was in Careers Wales doing a Skills for Work course and Angie came in to do a session about The SAFE Foundation, what they do and how I could get involved.

 I had just dropped out of college, so I was at a bit of a loose end and not really sure what I wanted to do next with my life. I was really inspired by Angie’s session, as I shared a lot of common interests with The SAFE Foundation and what they do. I am a big music fan, so I was keen to get involved with the festivals over the summer. I am also very interested in learning about different cultures, the environment and how we can make the world a fairer place, which are all the core values of The SAFE Foundation, so I knew I would fit right in. 

After first hearing about The SAFE Foundation, I started traveling to Cardiff to volunteer in the main office. I really enjoyed my trips to Cardiff; they really helped fill my days while I was looking for work. Going up on the train felt like a little adventure. Whilst in Cardiff, I was helping with the admin side of running the charity and also creating posts for The SAFE Foundation’s social media feed and a flier for a charity sports day they were holding. Very handy skills that a lot of employers look for. 

“The skills I gained at The SAFE Foundation helped build my confidence enough to find full-time employment and I have been at my day job for almost 4 years.“

Over the years, I was able to be part of The SAFE Foundation’s 10th and 16th birthday parties. I have helped out with many office moves and made many friends along the way. The skills I gained at The SAFE Foundation helped build my confidence enough to find full-time employment and I have been at my day job for almost 4 years. Despite working full time, I still try to volunteer and have a catch up with everyone at The SAFE Foundation. I was recently involved with writing and presenting a Skills for Retail course, to help people with the skills they would need for a career in retail. I found this extremely rewarding, as I was helping young people who are in a very similar situation to me when I was first getting involved with The SAFE Foundation. And presenting in front of a class was definitely a new skill for me. As this summer approaches, I find myself getting ready for my 5th year at Blue Lagoon and am really looking forward to another fun-filled summer with The SAFE Foundation.

As the summer approached, The SAFE Foundation started getting ready for festival season; festivals are a big source of funding for The SAFE Foundation, as I found out. First up was Blue Lagoon, a small friendly festival set on the beautiful Pembrokeshire coast. We had to spend time making sure all our face painting supplies were in order, get items ready to sell and work out the rota of who needed to be where. I also had to get myself ready, as I had never been camping at a festival before. The SAFE Foundation gave me a very handy list of all the supplies I needed to bring to have an enjoyable and comfortable first festival experience.

 I Spent my days there stewarding and litter picking around the festival grounds, meeting lots of new friendly faces, and the nights enjoying the amazing live music and bands. It was definitely a very fun first festival and camping experience for me and all the other volunteers I met down there and made me want to go to more and more festivals and events. I had so much fun with The SAFE Foundation over the summer and there were many more years of fun to come.

“I am really looking forward to another fun-filled summer with The SAFE Foundation.”

Over the years, I was able to be part of The SAFE Foundation’s 10th and 16th birthday parties. I have helped out with many office moves and made many friends along the way. The skills I gained at The SAFE Foundation helped build my confidence enough to find full-time employment and I have been at my day job for almost 4 years. Despite working full time, I still try to volunteer and have a catch up with everyone at The SAFE Foundation. I was recently involved with writing and presenting a Skills for Retail course, to help people with the skills they would need for a career in retail. I found this extremely rewarding, as I was helping young people who are in a very similar situation to me when I was first getting involved with The SAFE Foundation. And presenting in front of a class was definitely a new skill for me. As this summer approaches, I find myself getting ready for my 5th year at Blue Lagoon and am really looking forward to another fun-filled summer with The SAFE Foundation.

We are looking for more volunteers to join us over the summer at various events and festivals, if you, like us, belong in a field covered in sunshine and glitter join our events team by emailing info@thesafefoundation.co.uk