Ethan spends his summer developing a new found confidence on NCS
As Covid-19 wreaked chaos with young people’s education, Ethan Bryson was a year 11 leaver who, like thousands of others finished school early without the usual fanfare and a definitive plan for the long summer stretching ahead of him. This was until he signed up to take part in the NCS (National Citizen Service) programme.
Thankfully, before summer, his school was approached by Hartlepool Community Sports Foundation about Year 11 students taking part in the NCS programme. Designed for 16-17 year olds, NCS is a youth programme that gives participants a taste of independence, they mix with a new crowd of people and take on exciting challenges together. The experience helps young people to develop new skills that will set them up for life after school.
This was great opportunity for Ethan, who was diagnosed with autism at the age of 4, and he immediately signed to do NCS to learn some new skills, meet new people and try something new and before he embarked on his next chapter at his local college.
The two-week programme was packed with activities and valuable life skills to help develop young people. The first day included a laser tag ‘getting to know you’ session which Ethan loved. Another activity that Ethan found useful was when the Emergency services, including the Police and the Fire Service visited and ran workshops on social issues including equality, racism, hate crime, relationships and consent which Ethan found really useful.
At the end of the week the group then ventured out into Hartlepool and did a recce around the town to identify areas that could be improved in the local community to prepare for their social action project.
This is where Ethan’s new found confidence came into fruition as him and his group planned a community project that would benefit a local care home and its residents. The garden area was in need of some attention and so the group set to work planning items that were needed and how the garden might look at the end of its transformation.
Once they had everything they needed, Ethan and his group worked tirelessly in the space to create a new relaxing area for the care home residents. Gazebos were painted, flower beds were tended to and the whole garden was given a new lease of life, courtesy of Ethan and his group.
Ethan’s mum, Alison Crossan, reflects on the impact NCS has had on Ethan’s confidence:
“NCS gave Ethan a gentle push into the unknown and we are so proud of how he responded as well as learning new skills himself giving something back to the community.”
“He’s had the chance to make new friends, visit his local EFL Club, somewhere he had never been before, and get out into the community.
Keith Nobbs, Manager, Hartlepool United Community Sports Foundation:
“Ethan benefitted a great deal from his NCS experience building confidence and life skills and was an important member of the group during the project. It was a pleasure to spend time with him and see his skills develop.”
Hartlepool Community Sports Foundation are part of the EFL Trust’s network of NCS delivery partners who, despite the COVID-19 pandemic, are supporting thousands of young people through NCS this summer.
This summer marks ten years since the EFL Trust and NCS partnered to deliver life-changing experiences for young people across the country through the social action scheme.
The programme, delivered by 64 Delivery Partners, has engaged more than 65,000 teenagers to date and these young people have volunteered over 1.9 million hours to their local communities. The programme is designed to help young people realise their potential, reach their future goals and in-turn, improve local communities through positive social action.
