Crawley Town “Maskateers”
8 teenagers from Crawley have done their bit to stop the spread of COVID-19 with their ‘Maskateers’ Project, an innovative project that aims to get young people wearing a mask in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way. The young people involved have spent their free time making and distributing face-masks. This innovative project aims to get young people wearing masks in a sustainable and environmentally friendly way.
Every summer, thousands of teenagers, aged 15-17, across the country go away on our NCS (National Citizen Service) programme to develop new skills, meet new people and live independently, all whilst making a positive impact in the community.
The traditional NCS programme has been adapted this year to ensure that young people across the country can ‘Keep Doing Good’ in their communities. The ‘Keep Doing Good’ programme, delivered by Crawley Town Community Foundation, aims to work around the impact of COVID-19, pledging 1 million voluntary hours into local communities. As part of the experience, young people are tasked with designing and delivering a social action project with the aim to help communities bounce back from the impact of the pandemic.
Individuals within the team were passionate about sewing and so they thought they would put their skills to good use by making re-useable face masks. To keep the project as sustainable as possible, they collected fabric from homes and charity shops and transformed them into 50 face-masks. The face-masks were then distributed, free of charge, in Crawley town centre. The team did have an optional donation box and received £61.50 for the masks, which went to Crawley Open House. Crawley Open House is a homeless shelter, and with Crawley having the second most homeless people in Sussex, donations here are vital.
Crawley Town Community Foundation have made a huge impact over in Crawley, their Masketeers project was just ran in their spare time! They spent the main chunk of their hours helping at Manor Royal where which they created lots of food packages for vulnerable people around Crawley. They also helped out with other tasks such as cleaning, gardening and tidying.
Isobell Bull, 16, is part of ’The Maskateers’, had this to say;
“This project is important to me, not only for my own personal development, but we really feel like we are impacting our local community and keeping them safe. It is really important to give guidance and support during this time, which is scary for many people”.
Ellie Smith, NCS Coordinator at Crawley Town Community Foundation said;
“I’m so proud of every single young person that has pledged their time to ‘Keep Doing Good’ this summer. To give up your valuable time to help out vulnerable individuals within your community during this time is truly a selfless act, and both teams have been so successful and committed, whilst also having fun! The young people have created two amazing projects, which I know, have really made a difference to people’s lives. The NCS Team congratulate them all, and we’re excited to see what else the summer will bring”
‘Keep Doing Good’ will be delivered by EFL Trust and its network of local organisations that include Football Clubs, sport charities and youth organisations, all of whom have vast experience and passion to work with young people and give them an opportunity to make positive change.
To find out more information about ‘Keep Doing Good’ or to register interest visit wearencs.com.
