PNE stars Patrick Bauer and Emil Riis joined the latest Preston North End Community and Education Trust Communities United meeting to share their experiences of growing up in Germany and Denmark.

Communities United is a programme in which ten families of various backgrounds and nationalities meet to learn more about each other’s experiences of living in Preston, while gaining an increased understanding about cultures different from their own.

Advertisements

Bauer and Riis joined the latest meeting via Zoom, which allowed the families to ask the North End duo a range of questions, including the chance to reflect on their own cultures and how they differ to life in England.

They revealed more about some of their favourite foods from their homelands as Bauer spoke of cooking a German Schnitzel and stocking up on cultural food from Lidl, and Riis admitted to missing his mum’s food from home. The two also spoke of a shared appreciation for Danish yoghurt and cereal!

Read more: Preston charity introduces ‘MAC’ to older people in need across Lancashire

PNECET Head of Community Engagement Rebecca Robertson said: “It was a real pleasure to have Patrick and Emil involved in our latest Communities United meeting where they spoke about their own cultures with our participating families.

“It was really interesting to hear about their backgrounds from Germany and Denmark and some of the foods and traditions that they enjoy in their homeland, as well as giving our brilliant families the chance to ask them some questions about their lives as footballers.

“We have many different families participating on the programme of a variety of nationalities and backgrounds, speaking a range of languages and some of the participants even joining us with the support of an interpreter.

“We have been focusing on a different family’s culture each week, sometimes even cooking meals that are representative of that culture. Our participants have then later shared their thoughts about those meals and foods in our Zoom meetings.

“It was brilliant to have two more new cultures to discuss with Patrick and Emil’s involvement and we’re really thankful to them for joining the meeting!”

The Communities United programme has seen the Trust deliver a variety of goods to the participating families each week, including sweets of a Pakistani and South Asian origin, ingredients to cook the South African ‘Bunny Chow’ curry, and much more.

All the families have also received a Samsung tablet to allow them to take part in the meetings and remain engaged with the programme in an online capacity.

PNECET was one of six EFL clubs that has been supported with the government ‘Faith, Race and Hate Crime’ grant to deliver the Communities United programme.

For more information about Communities United and other PNECET provision, email community@pne.com.

Read more: See the latest Preston news and headlines

What do you think about Communities United, and the PNE players getting involved? Let us know in the comments.