National Citizen Service schemes urged to secure a lasting legacy

Thousands of young people have taken part in the expanded National Citizen Service (NCS) scheme this summer. As a result, increasing attention is being paid to the legacy it will leave.

Providers are developing ways of sustaining young people’s involvement in community activities, while local authorities are being encouraged to co-ordinate their work with the scheme. The largest provider of NCS this year, the Challenge Network, has created a graduate programme, the Challenge Society.

As part of the society, every local area where the programme is run has a youth board of five to 10 young people who have been elected to represent Challenge graduates in that area. They come up with ideas for activities and manage social events, such as “social action days”, which offer the opportunity to signpost young people to other charities interested in recruiting volunteers.

The charity has also enlisted 100 mentors, each with responsibility for 50 young NCS graduates. They are charged with getting to know the young people through meetings and phone calls, and helping them develop their skills.

Craig Morley, chief executive of the Challenge Network, says the scheme’s legacy has the potential to be “huge”.

“Because the vast majority of graduates are 16, they need a clear support structure to build on the confidence they develop in the programme, but that support structure is relatively low-cost and light-touch,” he says.

“NCS has intrinsic value in terms of personal development for young people. But it would be a great shame and massive missed opportunity if we don’t then build that experience into ongoing, sustained opportunities in the community. It is absolutely vital.”

NCS graduates will also be able to continue helping the community once their schemes have finished through a £1.4m Social Action Fund run by the National Youth Agency (NYA) and O2.

Up to 5,000 young people, including 2,500 NCS graduates, will be given the opportunity to start their own social action projects from August 2012 through to September 2013.

Paid interns and apprentices, led by youth workers, will work to engage young people and direct them to programmes and funders that can support them to develop their involvement in community work.

Emma Kirkbride, NYA lead on the Social Action Fund, says the project is working with local NCS providers to make young people aware of the opportunities available once they graduate.

The scheme will run alongside any graduate programmes providers already run. “It can be an opportunity for young people to develop skills they want for progression through education or into employment,” she says. “There are massive benefits for young people in being able to contribute to their communities.”

Meanwhile, there is recognition that partnerships must be created with councils to capitalise on the potential benefits of the NCS.

David Wright, chief executive of the Confederation of Heads of Young People’s Services, says: “Providers need a way of trying to bed down their work locally. There is a real and very clear role for local authorities to work with providers. Local authorities are best placed to identify those young people who are hardest to reach.”

Linda Jack, member of the Liberal Democrat federal policy committee for education, adds that national guidelines should be introduced outlining how youth services and NCS providers should work together.

She wants young people to be guaranteed support on completing the scheme, to avoid potential benefits being lost. “There is no doubt NCS will make a difference to some young people who are good at self-starting – but for those who aren’t, we could be setting them up to fail if support isn’t there,” she says.