Swansea City AFC Foundation’s Premier League Kicks participants from Gorseinon were surprised by special guests Bashir Humphreys and Cahrlie Patino as part of the EFL’s Week of Action.
The EFL’s annual Week of Action aims to highlight the impact clubs and their community organisations have in their local area.
Throughout the year, the team at the Foundation deliver numerous projects and initiatives across our community, covering a variety of different avenues, with an impact report from earlier this year outlining its social value to Swansea and the wider area at £16.4million.
With Anti-Bullying Week running from November 13, Humphreys and Patino highlighted to the children at the Kicks session at Evolve@Gorseinon that bullying is unacceptable, and the importance of seeking help if they are a victim.
The Swansea City first-team duo also took part in a question and answer session, and then joined in with the participants as they played football to round off the evening.
“It’s been so much fun,” said Humphreys.
“Just being here with the kids in their element, it reminds me of when I was younger. It’s been really rewarding for me,” said Humphreys.
“I think it’s so important to spread the anti-bullying message, because when you’re younger you can’t really understand the way people are treating you and it can be difficult to handle your emotions.
“I think trying to feed those messages in as early as possible, letting kids know it’s alright to not be alright and what to do about it, is really important.
“I grew up in Reading and we had a youth club and every now and then the players would come down and it would mean so much to you to see the players you look up to, so hopefully it can help these kids.
“These are the people that are there to support me on a Saturday so it’s important for me to be there to support them during the week, even if I can give a little bit back. Hopefully it has put a smile on their face.”
Patino added: “It’s been fun, the kids have been really good, listened when we were speaking, taking on the information and it’s nice to see them having fun playing football.
“Anti-Bullying Week is coming up and we’re here to tell them that it’s unacceptable in all aspects and if they’re going through it we need to stop it at source, so they know now they should tell their parents, police of staff if they’re at school.
“For Bash and I to come down and speak to them, it’s nice for them to hear it from different people. When I was younger I was in their shoes and hearing it from players I was looking up to was important.
“It’s nice to come and have a kick around as well, and it looks like they’re having a lot of fun out there as well so it’s been amazing.”
South Wales Police have supported the Foundation Kicks sessions for a number of years, and helped to deliver the anti-bullying message in Gorseinon.
“Anti-Bullying Week is coming up and we’re here to tell them that it’s unacceptable in all aspects and if they’re going through it we need to stop it at source, so they know now they should tell their parents, police of staff if they’re at school.
“For Bash and I to come down and speak to them, it’s nice for them to hear it from different people. When I was younger I was in their shoes and hearing it from players I was looking up to was important.
“It’s nice to come and have a kick around as well, and it looks like they’re having a lot of fun out there as well so it’s been amazing.”
South Wales Police have supported the Foundation Kicks sessions for a number of years, and helped to deliver the anti-bullying message in Gorseinon.
