We are often so focussed on recruiting young people onto our NCS programme and ensuring that their on-programme experience is full of fun, relevance and quality that we overlook the impact that our programme has had on the young people we work with. This is where our attention lies in this month’s department update.
Over the last two months our NCS Graduates have taken advantage of opportunities presented to them through their involvement in NCS and they’ve been making their mark and developing their skills to further enrich their experiences.
Emma Thompson (NCS Graduate 2016) and Casey Holmes (NCS Graduate from 2017), both of whom are members of the NCS ELFT Regional Youth Board, went down to London earlier this month to volunteer along with 98 other NCS Graduates from across the country at the 100th Anniversary of Armistice Day. Graduates were invited by the Department of Culture, Media and Sport to be a part of the national remembrance service ensuring it ran smoothly by registering guests, leading the main procession and laying wreaths.
Casey and fellow RUCST NCS Graduate Reece Mitchell co-hosted the inaugural EFLT NCS Champion School event at Doncaster Rovers FC. The event celebrated and thanked the efforts and commitment shown by school teachers, Head of Years and Head Teachers who have helped over 23,000 young people from South Yorkshire & Humberside access the NCS programme since its inception in 2011. Casey and Reece each gave compelling accounts of their on-programme experiences and highlighted the way in which NCS has helped ‘open doors’ since they graduated from the programme in 2017.
Yasmin Aziz (NCS Graduate 2018) was selected out of over 300 applicants from across the country to take part in Kickstart – a week-long residential in Milton Keynes helping young people bond with other NCS Graduates and helping to prepare them for what to expect as they take up a position on their regional youth boards. Since Kickstart, Yasmin has taken part in a weekend away in the Lake District bonding with new and existing members of the Regional Youth Board including RUCST’s Casey Holmes and Emma Thompson. She has also championed the NCS programme by talking at our Y11 assembly in Wickersley School & Sixth Form College and has enrolled on our local Graduates Programme that has lunched this month.
