A BOLTON coffee shop worker has helped provide 10 cows to improve the lives of families in Rwanda.

Aaron Swift, aged 22, who works at Starbucks in the Market Place, visited a village in the east African state, where coffee farmers will soon receive the animals.

The former Thornleigh Sixth Form student was inspired to co-ordinate the cow project following the trip to learn more about the origin of coffee, held earlier this year.

Mr Swift, a district coffee master for Starbucks, said: “It was an incredible experience to witness first hand — cows provide free fertiliser for farmers in Rwanda’s coffee communities to maximise the coffee they can produce and sell.

"Their meat and milk can be sold for cash so farmers can invest in their families and livelihoods.

“But it goes much further than that — the first born calf is given to a neighbouring village restoring respect, pride and dignity to villages that were at war a few years ago.

"And these connections can rekindle communities and heal the wounds of the conflict.”

After seeing the value of a cow to communities in Rwanda, Mr Swift encouraged Starbucks stores in Wales and the north west, as well as Birmingham and Oxford, to get involved - and his goal was achieved in just a few weeks through fundraising activities and customer donations.

Each dairy cow costs £750, which includes animal husbandry, veterinary support and shelter construction, and is provided by the Send A Cow charity organisation.

Mr Swift, who has worked at Starbucks for two-and-a-half years, said: “I’m so grateful to everyone who got behind this project to achieve such a fantastic result. It’s no exaggeration to say these cows will change lives.”

A total of 34 people spent five days in Rwanda, which was plagued by civil war in the early 1990s and saw 800,000 people killed in a 100-day massacre in 1994.

Mr Swift added: "These visits are arranged annually for our most outstanding colleagues and coffee ambassadors throughout the business to visit the heart of where our coffee comes from, meet the people and communities producing our coffee and experience what goes into making great, sustainable coffee.

"I was inspired by the farmers in Rwanda who pour their passion into growing the world’s finest Arabica coffee."