Duo back LFC initiative
Academy youngsters Conor Coady and Tyrell Belford were the guests of honour at a ceremony held to celebrate the work of the Merseyside Fire & Rescue service's Princes Trust programme.
The duo joined members of the team in marking the transformation of a garden based at the Red Balloon Learner centre in Anfield from a downtrodden mud bath into an idyllic setting for children to enjoy.
The programme, which is run from Bootle/Netherton fire station, is held in conjunction with Liverpool Football Club's Action for Health scheme and consists of 10 young men from the age of 18-25 enrolling in a 12 week personal development course.
LFC's Programme manager for Action for Health, Mark Haig said: "The aim of the programme is to increase confidence motivation and skills, and as a result enable unemployed team members to move into employment, education or training.
"In week one of the course the team were given a talk on healthy eating before they embarked on their week residential in Llanberis, North Wales. The week was full of team building activities ranging from abseiling, orienteering, caving and climbing Snowdon.
"This was then followed by team work on real projects in the local community. The team chose The Red Balloon Learner centre for the recovery of bullied children as their chosen project. The centre is set up specifically to recover severely bullied children who are out of school and missing education. They provide short term educational and therapeutic programmes."
The Academy duo's presence isn't the first time Liverpool FC have been involved with the Red Balloon charity.
Skipper Steven Gerrard previously visited the centre when a donation of £20,000 was made by the Barclays Premier League's Creating Chances initiative and Liverpool selected the Red Balloon Merseyside branch as the recipients.