Over 400 young people from across Greater Manchester came together to celebrate 6 weeks to the kick off of this summer’s NCS programme and joined taster sessions for the new skills they will learn.
They were joined by NCS young graduates who volunteered their time to make the event a success. The event took place in the heart of Manchester in Cathedral Gardens and included, live bands, inflatable fun runs and skills taster sessions.
Attendees had the opportunity to get active, taking part in adrenaline fuelled sports such as an inflatable fun run and foot snooker. They also enjoyed games of volleyball, and took part in competitions designed to highlight the importance of stepping out of your comfort zone to achieve success.
As part of NCS, young people also have the chance to work with an industry professional to develop skills in sport, media, drama, photography or enterprise. They use their newly acquired skills to interact with local partners in their community. The Secret Garden Party event offered relevant taster sessions, giving exam-focused teens something to look forward to following assessments this summer. For example, those interested in sports coaching learned how to play and lead games designed to be inclusive for those with physical disabilities such as wheelchair bowling.
Katy Robinson of NCS provider The Challenge, said:
“We were delighted to see so many NCS participants and their parents taking part in our Secret Garden Party. With over 2800 15-17 year olds taking part in the programme this summer across Greater Manchester we were keen to highlight the huge benefit in skills and development this brings to our young people. NCS is also fantastic for our local communities. To date up to 8 million volunteering hours have been dedicated to local communities across the country as a result of NCS and young people raised approximately £1.3m for local causes in 2015 alone.”
Members of The Challenge’s graduate network also volunteered to attend on the day. Building on the success of their Social Action projects in March, where they worked to improve Manchester’s green space, the graduate charity ambassadors encouraged all those in attendance to think about how to get more involved in our communities. Other graduate media ambassadors utilised their expertise to make a film about the day.
Of her experience on NCS, graduate Niamh Hardy said:
“I went on NCS as I thought it would be a great opportunity to meet new people and also an incredibly fun way to spend the longest summer I have had at the end of a stressful year. I would absolutely recommend NCS as it’s an amazing opportunity to build new friendships and skills, and have fun after your exams.”
NCS is a once–in-a-lifetime opportunity open to all 16 to 17 year olds across England. It is a unique two or three week full-time programme open to all Greater Manchester teenagers and is focused around fun and discovery, with participants volunteering at least 30 hours to a community project they create to address an issue important to them.
NCS’s independent evaluation has shown a significant increase in a young person’s interest in their local area since taking part in the programme. Three quarters (76%) of teenagers post-NCS agreed they were more likely to help out locally, and six in 10 reported feeling a greater responsibility to their local community. The summer programme also showed that NCS participants do 6 hours more volunteering a month than peers who haven’t been on the programme.
To find out more about the summer and autumn programmes for 2016 in Greater Manchester, visit www.ncsthechallenge.org.
