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Belfast Live
Belfast Live
National
Orlaith Clinton

West Belfast community farm spreading joy to families during Halloween break

Young people from the St James' area in West Belfast have worked hard to help sustain and grow a community farm.

Goats and sheep aren't the typical residents you'd get in West Belfast - but this community project has helped to stop anti-social behaviour.

And over the Halloween break, volunteers at St James' Community Farm have hosted some family-friendly activities.

This week, the group of men, women and children created their own pumpkin patch - all free of charge.

One of the young volunteers getting ready for the day (Justin Kernoghan/Belfast Live)

Speaking to Belfast Live, Damien Lindsay, from the community group said: "The farm is made up of a lot of volunteers and it's just something different for the community. Without the input of the whole community this wouldn't be here.

"It's just wee simple things, we have a fairy garden which is now turned into a Halloween themed garden. On Wednesday we invited the community down to pick a pumpkin, all free of charge. We are doing everything in a safe way too, with social distancing and hand hygiene.

"We had something bigger planned but because of new restrictions we have scaled that down. The community have been fantastic over lockdown and if anybody is feeling under pressure, we'll be there for them.

"The young people are amazing. This wouldn't survive without them. When they were at school, they would have come to the farm at 7am to feed the animals and things like that. They're so committed to this Community Farm."

Speaking to Belfast Live at St James' Community Farm, Dan Kilifin said: "This is bringing a lot of young and old people together. They're all teaching one another new skills. Everybody is coming together and it's great.

"Our youngest volunteer is four and the oldest is 72 - it is something different and it stops kids standing on street corners in the area."

Bap Kelly volunteers at the farm and said they are all proud of the young people for their dedication.

Families from the St James area were invited down this week to the pumpkin patch (Justin Kernoghan/Belfast Live)

"From this started, the antisocial behaviour in the area has stopped tenfold," he added.

"We got a lot of the young people involved and because they own the farm and own the animals they're going to protect it. The support we get from the area is amazing. People going for a walk here are bringing food for the animals which is great too."

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