Giles Watling, MP for Clacton, has visited local young people who are participating in the National Citizen Service (NCS).
Giles joined participants during a recent NCS session on 13th August, which was provided by Essex County Council Youth Service. The session took place at Clacton Youth Centre, and the young people in attendance used the time to plan their upcoming social action projects. These projects make use of the skills that participants have learned during earlier NCS phases and ask these young people to design and deliver a volunteering project that makes an impact in their local community.
During the visit, Giles took the opportunity to have a discussion with some of our participants about their experiences and their social action projects, and heard first-hand about the positive outcomes of NCS on young people and their communities.
The NCS is the country’s fastest growing youth programme, which brings together 15 to 17-year olds from different backgrounds at a pivotal moment in their lives, with the aim of improving social mobility, social cohesion and social engagement in our country. This is done by bringing young people together in common purpose for two or four weeks to design and deliver their own social projects – building their confidence in what they can achieve, and creating bridges across social divides and ladders to opportunity in the process.
Young people who would like to participate in the National Citizen Service can find out more information here: https://www.ncsyes.co.uk/
Giles said:
“The National Citizen Service is, without doubt, a great scheme, which is doing so much to help young people move on and develop the life skills that they will need in the future. It was great to have the chance to talk to participants, who are clearly enjoying and benefiting from their experiences.
The first group I met were planning activities around promoting water safety complete with designing literature and the second were raising money for a local care home and were preparing a show that they would be putting on for the residents of local care homes. The enthusiasm these young people demonstrated was infectious. They were having fun, raising money, making friends and doing our community a valuable service. I hope that more of our young people will get involved.”