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