Port Vale Foundation have been increasing the confidence of young people with disabilities on the NCS programme

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Through NCS with Port Vale Foundation, young people with disabilities at Kemball School have pushed through their comfort zones and acquired new skills and confidence. Young people on NCS were given the exciting opportunity to shadow staff at Port Vale FC, learning key workplace skills and developing their own job application acumen, enabling them to be work ready.

Port Vale Foundation began its collaborative work with Kemball School back in February this year, where NCS Skills Booster sessions were provided to assist the young people in a number of critical key areas such as; developing their own aspirations, gaining independence, acquiring employability and creating successful job application forms.

Throughout their experiences on NCS and with workshops such as, presentation and public speaking skills, the young people started to develop their skills and with it, simultaneously, their confidence.

A teacher from Kemball School had this to say about the programme:

“Pupils at Kemball School have had a difficult time over the last two years due to being unable to get out and about in the community. This being a skill which is vital for their preparation for adulthood skills. We were approached by Port Vale Foundation and were offered the NCS skills booster sessions.

From the first session, the pupils were engaged with the staff and were showing signs of wanting to get out of their comfort zones.”

In addition to the skills booster sessions, Port Vale FC hosted an NCS Takeover day, which was also referred to as ‘A Day in the Life of’. This was an exciting opportunity for the young people to shadow a key member of staff at the football club or foundation for the day, allowing them to gain essential work experience, as well as a peek into the working day lives of the Port Vale staff.

The young people were given exposure to a number of different roles at Port Vale, such as Hospitality, Groundskeeping, Marketing, Media and Operations. For the day, they were tasked on developing applications forms for the highlighted roles, and were to voice why they should be selected to be within that role for the day.

After gaining an insight into the roles they were shadowing, the young people were then thrilled to have been given exclusive access at the stadium, in which they also met Boomer the Port Vale FC mascot.

The young people made magnificent strides within such as short time frame, as they developed their skills and confidence through the sessions. They learnt first-hand on-the-job, the skills and attributes required to be working within the workplace. The young people made a huge impression on staff and have been invited back for more work experience at The Vale.

As a token of gratitude for all fantastic experiences and skills learnt, the young people wrote thank you letters to the staff members that they had shadowed for the day.

Jorgie Wallace, NCS Project Lead at Port Vale Foundation highlighted the day:

“On the day, the young people shone, they came out of their comfort zones and they were fantastic within their job roles. I am really excited that we have begun work with Kemball school and I am looking forward to what we can offer and the opportunities for the young people.

We are really excited for the NCS programme we are delivering to the year 11 cohort in May. Well done everyone!”

Port Vale Foundation have been working meticulously with delivering its NCS programme and impacting young people’s lives for the better within the community. As a part of their mission, Port Vale Foundation partner with 3 local SEND (Special Education Needs school) one of them being Kemball School, with the strong intention of allowing all young people to have equal opportunities and experiences.

To find out more about NCS, click here.

“It wasn’t long before I came back to NCS”

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Travelling back to the summer of 2019, Charlie Boulby signed up to NCS, having no set idea on what to expect or what she was going to get out of it. Fast forward almost 3 years later, Charlie discovers new skills, new confidence and a new career on NCS with Sheffield United Community Foundation (SUCF).

NCS is the ultimate experience for young people aged 16-17, in which they are given the opportunity to make new friends, develop new skills and create new memories. Players of Sheffield United will be celebrating the success of young people on NCS as they will be hosting #NCSMatchday when they play Blackburn Rovers on Wednesday.

One of the testaments to SUCF’s successful NCS programme is Charlie. Upon Charlie’s initial first experience on NCS with SUCF, she took part in a social action project, which allowed her to make new friends and develop her own skills.

The Social action project phase of NCS is the conclusion of the programme, in which NCS participants band together as a group to generate ideas to make a positive impact in the community.

For Charlie, her group decided to raise money for a local heart charity. To raise the funds, the group used their innovation and charisma, as they hosted a quiz night, as well as hosting other small fundraising events. Their efforts were rewarded as they raised over £1000 for a charity her group was passionate about.

Charlie summarises her first NCS experience in Summer 2019:

“I did not have a clue what to expect and I ended up having the best summer of my life.”

After experiencing an incredible summer, Charlie didn’t want her NCS journey to end there. She joined SUCF’s NCS Local Youth Board which focused on raising awareness for important causes and supporting local charities within Sheffield. However, due to the pandemic, this opportunity was cut short and she decided it was a good time to focus on her A-Levels.

Once NCS was available to young people again, Charlie was keen to get back involved and applied to be an NCS Team Leader during Summer 2020 with SUCF.

“It wasn’t long before I came back to NCS after I applied to be a team leader for the summer programme. I felt that this was really rewarding as not only did it give me the opportunity to give something back, but it also boosted my confidence massively, especially after coming out of lockdowns.”

“Being a team leader gave me the opportunity to explore a different kind of responsibility that I had never experienced before. Working with young people from different backgrounds, I acquired a great set of social skills which came in handy as I applied for a degree apprenticeship with the police.”

With new skills acquired from her experiences with NCS, Charlie now possessed the right attributes and confidence, which allowed her to progress her passions even further, as she was able to secure a full-time role at SUCF as an NCS Recruitment Coordinator.

“I didn’t make it through the application process with the police, but I wasn’t deterred and most recently I was given the opportunity to work with the Foundation full time.

“Thanks to this, I’m now in a position where I’m learning a whole new set of skills including time management, project organisation and public speaking, all of which are putting me in good stead to get exactly where I want to be in the future.”

NCS staff, like Charlie, play such a crucial role in making young people’s experiences the best they can be. If you are interested in working on NCS this summer to gain new skills and build confidence, please click here

Donny players are set to celebrate the impact 400 young people, including Charlotte and Sophia, have had whilst on NCS.

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Today, during Doncaster Rovers fixture against Plymouth Argyle, Doncaster Rovers players will celebrate the impact young people have had whilst on NCS (National Citizen Service).

Each year, EFL Clubs promote NCS and the impact it has had on young people from through a campaign called #NCSMatchday. Club Doncaster works with EFL Trust alongside a network of partners to promote and deliver the NCS programme to teenagers.

Sophia and Charlotte are amongst 400 young people who Club Doncaster Foundation have supported despite the challenging times. The pair met whilst on NCS in Summer 2021 and were given the opportunity to turn their passion of helping people, into action, through the delivery of a social action project.

Designed for 16-17-year-olds, NCS offers an inclusive summer programme that helps young people get the skills, experience and self-belief they need to achieve their potential – and smash their future goals. NCS aims to make a life-changing difference to young people and how they approach life after school.

Sophia and Charlotte, along with their group, volunteered at Bentley Urban Farm (BUF). BUF is an upcycled outdoor space used by community groups from Doncaster. They use reclaimed materials to teach people how to grow food and make art and music, as well as providing a space where people can reconnect with nature.

Sophia’s group decorated the site, adding splashes of colour to this community asset, they hosted an upcycled fashion show to stress the importance of sustainability. Despite being in the absence of volunteers over the past year due to Covid-19, the group restored the site to its former glory through weeding and other gardening tasks.

Sophia discussed with us her experiences on her social action project:

“Whilst at Bentley Urban Farm, we were given the freedom to get creative with the materials available to us. One morning, as we watched the joy on visitors faces as they saw existing artwork on display, Charlotte and I decided we wanted to create something which was not only art but something that was usable as well. With this in mind, we set to work painting an old and tired bench”.

Sophia and Charlotte made a substantial impact, as they incorporated their imaginative minds within the real world through art. Over the next couple of days, Sophia and Charlotte transformed the once tired, rugged-down bench, into a now beautiful landscape.

Not only had Charlotte and Sophia created a wonderful piece of artwork, but they had also achieved their aim in making usable art, which is guaranteed to make people smile for years to come. So much so, that the bench was then relocated to Doncaster Town Centre as part of the ArtBomb exhibition!

When asked about NCS, Sophia stated:

“I signed up to NCS mainly to build confidence, learn new skills and meet new people and throughout the programme I have definitely achieved all of the above and much more! Being able to give back to my local community was also really great”.

“We were thrilled when our bench was displayed as part of the ArtBomb Exhibition and knowing we made people smile with what we created is fantastic. NCS is brilliant regardless of the direction you want to go in, I learnt so many skills and I will benefit from this for years to come”.

Young people from Doncaster and Selby have navigated through Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions to build skills, confidence and most importantly, give back to their local communities through social action and community partnerships whilst on NCS. In total, young people dedicated over 11,000 hours to social action projects such as social isolation, the environment and helping the disadvantaged.

To find out more about NCS, click here.

Spreading Christmas Cheer: Young People from Oldham provide a helping hand to the elderly

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Christmas, is widely known for many as, ‘The most wonderful time of the year’. However, for some, it can be a period of loneliness and isolation. Due to the pandemic, many elderly people have found themselves more isolated than ever, as some are unable to spend time with loved ones at Christmas.  Read more

Inspirational young group from Brathay Trust raise nearly £1,000 with NCS for the National Autistic Society

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A young group from Brathay Trust which compromised of 13 members, raised around £1,000 for the National Autistic Society, as they chose to spread awareness about Autism for their summer social action project with NCS. Read more

Young people show the ‘Power of Youth’ whilst on NCS

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The NCS programme was a roaring success throughout the summer of 2021; with 9,198 young people, aged 16-17, engaging in the delivery of 350 social action programmes, with the collective ambition to improve key social issues and improve the standard of living in their local communities.

Hours volunteered over the course of the summer months amassed 270,000, raising over £60,000 by NCS participants across the EFL Trust network. Following the restrictions posed during the lockdown of 2020, the young people eagerly embraced the opportunity to be hands on in their approach to rejuvenate local areas.

This was particularly evident in Shrewsbury, where an NCS cohort renovated a rundown underpass en route to New Meadow, so fans can enjoy a colourful, Shrewsbury Town themed commute on matchdays. A group from Middlesbrough also made efforts to create a sensory area on a community site aimed for those with learning difficulties, mental health issues and sensory issues to help them relax. A group from North Yorkshire embarked on an impressive 7 social action projects re-vamping a youth-activity space at the YMCA, creating a garden area in their school, making care packages for local care home residents, fundraising for Candlelighters, Westway Open Arms community hub and fundraising for their school.

“This programme has been valuable to me; I have worked with people I would never normally have worked with. My confidence and self-worth has really grown and I feel more independent.” said Megan, 16.

Another key cause that was particularly important to those partaking in the NCS programme over the summer was educating and supporting mental health needs. 13 young people on NCS with Rotherham United Community Sports Trust set out to raise awareness on suicide prevention. In addition to this, a group from Harrogate helped raise funds for Mind, their local mental health charity; whilst also hosting a selection of activities and workshops to improve the mental and physical wellbeing of young people.

“We decided we wanted our Social Action Project to help raise awareness of Mental Health and Wellbeing. We decided to run sports sessions with the younger year groups, alongside mental health workshops; to show them the positive impact of exercise on Mental Health.” Explained Alex, a member of the group.

NCS has given thousands of young people the confidence and self-belief to make the next steps in life – be that higher education or employment prospects – all whilst bolstering their interpersonal and people skills. A great example of this Ethan Bryson, who  took part in the NCS summer programme with Hartlepool United Community Sports Foundation. Living with autism since the age of 4, leaving high school during the global pandemic posed a challenge to Ethan, but his experiences of NCS which helped him meet new people and learn new skills prior to his transition to college.

Another illustration of the benefit that the NCS programme can have can be found in Bradley from Burton. Also living with autism, Bradley’s family had reservations about Bradley’s involvement in NCS due to its full-on nature both physically and socially. But these reservations were soon dropped once they saw the positive impact the experiences had on Bradley. They said:

“The skills he has learnt from just those 2 weeks on NCS has given him so much confidence.” said a member of Bradley’s family. “Thank you so much to everyone for giving Bradley the opportunity to show him he has the ability to do anything he wants.”

This week, young people are being celebrate through #iwillweek recognising the power of youth and their capability when given a voice and a platform to do so, just like 9,198 young people that took part in NCS this summer.

“You’re never alone” – Young People on NCS raise awareness of mental health in Rotherham

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A group of 13 young people on NCS with Rotherham United Community Sports Trust set out to raise awareness on suicide prevention, and to spread positivity within the community during their NCS summer social action project. Read more

Young people from Hartlepool boost the morale at a care home with NCS

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A young group from Hartlepool United came together to boost the morale of care home residents during the summer. The group chose to renovate the care home garden with an aim to create a positive impact upon the elderly residents, who welcomed the changes after suffering from intense Covid-19 restrictions.

The social action project decided by the young people whilst on NCS, was to help improve and renovate the garden of the Queen’s Meadow care home in Hartlepool. One of the members of the team, Elise Humble, reflected on the project:

“As a team we thought this would massively benefit the care home because of Covid-19 and the restrictions that were in place at the time, which encouraged people to go outside. This social action project would enable the residents to have a better place to go outside, and to even have time and a place to see family members.”

The group initially decided to ask the residents of the care home, to write down how the garden could be improved and placed them in “Care Boxes”. The group worked together to implement the changes, and created boxes containing items such as crosswords, soaps, pens and personalised notes for the care home.

The group then spent two days tidying up the garden, planting new flowers, and utilised their creativity skills, painting the plant boxes and personalising the rocks, bringing smiles to the elderly people during difficult circumstances. The group also decided to buy all items, such as the decorations from charity shops, so awareness could also be raised there.

“The care packages delivered will put a smile on the residents faces. We included a personalised note in each care package, so they knew who it was from and why they were receiving it.”

Elise stated that her time within NCS on the Social Action Project not only benefited the residents within the care home, but also herself and her group members:

“I wasn’t a very confident person and I thought participating would help make develop my communication skills and it would help me meet new people. The experience I gained from NCS has helped me become more confident, and better at communicating with others. We completed tasks where we were talking to members of the public, which would usually be out of my comfort zone, but doing so has helped improve my social skills.”

Elise has mentioned how her newfound confidence has also helped her with talking to larger groups:

“Due to my new confidence, I have now joined the college debate club, which is something completely out of my comfort zone, but thanks to NCS I felt more able to push myself that extra mile.”

“NCS has helped me gain lots of new friends and people to talk to, and it was nice doing something to improve our community with a group of great friends. The NCS experience on a whole was amazing, I would definitely recommend it to others and encourage them to do it too as it was so much fun, it helped me in improving so many skills.”

Young People Provide Respite For Local Community

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A community space can once again provide a vital respite for people with mental health challenges thanks to a group of young people.

18 young people, aged 15-17, from Wakefield have transformed a local allotment area which supports people who are experiencing problems with their mental health.

The group completed a two-week programme with Wakefield Trinity called ‘Keep Doing Good’. The programme is part of the National Citizen Service’s (NCS) ‘One Million Hours of Doing Good’, a wider pledge to enable up to one million hours of teens taking an active role in helping the country recover post Covid-19. In their final week, the group pulled up their sleeves and volunteered at Appletree Allotments in Wakefield.

This week is ‘National Allotments Week’ and the benefits of an allotment go much further than growing fresh produce – the outdoors and interaction with nature has proven benefits for mental health. Appletree Allotments is a community space, and is a referral place for people with mental health issues or who are suffering from loneliness. Once there, they receive 1-to-1 support sessions, meet new people and talk about their mental health.

The allotment relies on volunteers, but due to COVID-19 there have been fewer people able to help out and so it has become overgrown. The group of young people have worked hard to transform the allotment so it is a safe and happy place for people to visit once again.

Keaven, 16, one of the volunteers is delighted at what the team has done. He said;

“It’s been really nice to give something back to the community, especially to those that need it most. It’s been fun to volunteer at the allotment – we’ve been painting, weeding and even met the chickens! The people who work at Appletree are so nice and they’ve taught us loads.”

“It’s good to get some volunteering experience in a really friendly environment, especially after being home for so long!”

 

Bridget Hill, Charity Manager at Spectrum People who manage Appletree allotments said;

“What a difference a few days make and lots of wonderful NCS volunteer hours. We are so pleased to welcome this amazing group as their helping hands to Appletree which needed a lot of TLC. The individuals Spectrum People supports will really enjoy this space once they come back after lockdown.”

Thousands of young people in Yorkshire and The Humber, like this group of young people, are due to take part in ‘Keep Doing Good’ in August with EFL Trust (official Charity Arm of the English Football League) and other local organisations. During their time on the programme, young people will develop themselves and make a positive impact on the community through a social action project volunteering their time supporting local issues in their community.

For more information on ‘Keep Doing Good’ click here.

18 Year Old Katie Helps Support 70 Vulnerable Households

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“Everyone should come together in times of need and work together as a team.” says Katie McDougall who has been volunteering with Preston North End ‘Helping Hampers’ Campaign, she continues, “As a young person, I’ve got lots of time on my hands and if I can volunteer my services, I will. If I can help others, put a smile on their face and get them through this hardship, then obviously it makes me feel good as well!”   

Katie, aged 18, joined Preston North End Community and Education Trust (PNECET) to volunteer for their ‘Helping Hampers’ Campaign. The campaign supports the most vulnerable people in the community of Preston with hampers of essential food and provisions.  So far she has helped provide 70 vulnerable household with essential provision to help get them through this difficult period.

Katie first came in to contact PNECET when she did NCS in 2019 and that is how she found out about the opportunity to volunteer for the ‘Helping Hampers’ campaign. NCS is a youth programme designed for 16-17 year olds that runs every summer and autumn. The experience is all about empowering young people, to help develop their skills that will set them up for life after school. On NCS, participants live away from home and get a taste of independence as well as positively impacting their local community through a social action project.

Katie said: “I heard about this [PNECET Helping Hampers] because I’ve taken part in NCS. My family are quite involved with Preston [North End], follow them on Facebook, and saw that the Community and Education Trust are doing this really good scheme making hampers for vulnerable people.”

Katie is a student at Newman College and should have been doing her exams. Instead, she’s at home still studying but with plenty of time on her hands and so volunteered a few hours each week to help put together over 70 hampers together for vulnerable people within Preston.

Christine Latus is Preston North End season ticket holder and was a recipient of a PNECET Helping Hamper, she said;

“It’s absolutely wonderful, it’s a real surprise – I didn’t expect anything like this at all, but it’s really helpful and it’s lovely to think that the club are thinking about the supporters in these strange times. We obviously can’t go to matches or anything, so it’s really, really kind, I really appreciate it.”

NCS have recently launched ‘Keep Doing Good’ to help young people take an active role in the recovery of the country after COVID-19.

As part of Katie’s time on NCS she delivered a social action project that had a positive impact on the community. After her volunteering with PNECET Katie is keen to do more volunteering to support the community.

Katie said “It’s been great to help out and support the local community of Preston. I want to continue doing that and look forward to volunteering more in the community. I would encourage other young people my age to take up volunteering, it’s really rewarding and a good use of time”

Preston North End Community and Education Trust Community Partnerships Manager Rebecca Robertson said: “Katie has been a valued volunteer on our PNECET Helping Hampers campaign. She has spent time in our offices at Deepdale helping with making the boxes for our hampers and packing them with food, toiletries and other engaging materials for the vulnerable members of our community.

“It has been great to see one of our NCS graduates getting involved with our community initiatives during this difficult time and we’re looking forward to working with Katie more on the NCS Keep Doing Good project, as we’re sure she can continue making a real impact in our community!”

If you are 15-17 and want to support your local community volunteering then sign up to ‘Keep Doing Good’ and help get your local community back on its feet after.