It’s not just teenagers that have benefited from NCS in Hull and East Riding this summer!

The group began working with Dove House Hospice, taking on the NCS Accumulator challenge. The challenge itself was to start with £50 and use this to support fundraising and raise awareness. The group exceeded all expectations, raising £1,600 through various fundraising activities ranging from a door to door car washing service, a Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood inspired Great British Bake Off Challenge, and an open mic evening to celebrate local musical talent in Hull.

Dan Clipson of Dove Hospice has been blown away by the support from young people on NCS programmes, and says: This summer was a great experience for both the NCS teams and for us here at Dove House Hospice. The Accumulator Challenge was well received by all of the groups and allowed young people to really develop their skills that they’d learnt earlier in the programme.

We’re excited to see how our growing relationship develops with the NCS programme, allowing the Accumulator Challenge to become a real staple of hospice care awareness and fundraising from a younger generation”.

Many young people have now expressed an interest in continuing their support of the hospice through taking part in upcoming events such as the Colour Run – a 5k fun run leaving you awash with a rainbow of colours.

As well as supporting Dove House Hospice, the group undertook a project to support the HU5 area of Hull. After hearing on Radio Humberside that local people weren’t happy with the state of their streets, the young people took it upon themselves to clean them and filled over 40 bags of rubbish on their first day. Word spread of what they were doing, and Radio Humberside invited them along to speak live on radio with DJ Dave Burns about their social action project.

Whilst benefiting the community, the impact NCS has had on these youngsters has been significant; they have developed life skills, learnt about the local community, and most importantly, developed a sense of achievement with the difference that they have made.

Andreea Voinea, a volunteer aged 16 from Hull said: “This has been the most incredible summer. I had so much fun, tried something new every day and met new people who I can’t wait to meet up with again.’’

Andreea continued: “One of my highlights was creating our social action project to support Dove Hospice and help clean the streets of HU5. It was amazing to be able to see the project through and realise the huge difference we can make if we put our minds to it – the sense of achievement at the end raising over £1,600 for Dove Hospice, and the amount of rubbish we collected was something I’d never experienced before and it really bonded the group. I’d definitely encourage other young people to give it a go.”

Social action projects are taking place across the country with the NCS programme and this is just one of many examples of how young people are making a positive difference in their community.

Young people in Doncaster received an inspirational visit from a gold medal winning Paralympic hero last week.

The group of teenagers who are on the National Citizen Service programme (NCS) in Yorkshire and Humber, were visited by former Team GB Paralympic gold medal winner Liz Johnson.  Thanks to a partnership with Dame Kelly Holme Trust, over 1000 teens on NCS have been inspired and motivated by Paralympian Champions. Club Doncaster Foundation is one of the providers that deliver programme in these areas.

Liz Johnson, was one of many athletes to visit the programme this summer, delivering a workshop to over 120 teenagers from Doncaster. The former Paralympic Swimmer is one of Wales’ most successful Paralympians winning medals in Athens, Beijing and London.

The workshop delivered was fun and engaging, with a purpose to inspire and motivate young people, linking back to the goal setting. The group also took part in interactive team building activities that they found very useful when working on their social action projects. Liz also spoke to the young people about her life story and the journey she went on to becoming a Paralympic medallist.

Liz commented: “Our inspirational programmes are all about supporting young people from all backgrounds to work together, take on new challenges and make a difference. The young people on NCS made fantastic progress in such a short space of time. I can’t wait to hear about how the attitudes and skills they’ve developed impact positively on the success of their social action projects.”

The workshop delivered on behalf of Dame Kelly Holmes Trust have been inspirational to young people.

Jodi Parkinson, who took part in the workshop in Doncaster said: “I really enjoyed the team building activities with Liz and Dam Kelly Holmes Trust, it was amazing to see everyone try and do different things and really push themselves. The workshop has been great and it was very inspirational to meet someone who has achieved so much!”

For more information about the programme please visit www.ncsefltrust.co.uk.