NYA Update: National Youth Agency offers places on autumn programme
NYA
Monday, October 15, 2012
Following the success of National Citizen Service (NCS) during the summer, The National Youth Agency and O2 Think Big are delivering the programme to young people in the autumn for the first time.
The National Youth Agency is to offer Year 11 leavers in Blackburn and Darwen and the London boroughs of Enfield, Waltham Forest and Lambeth the chance to be part of the programme, especially if they missed out in the summer.
NCS is a flagship government initiative that aims to promote a more cohesive, responsible and engaged society by bringing young people from different backgrounds together to make a difference in their communities. It is a voluntary programme for 16- and 17-year-olds, which focuses on their personal and social development and includes challenging activities, from away-from-home residential experiences to a self-designed social action project.
The new autumn programme will give more young people a chance to get involved in NCS. Over half term, they will spend time away from home doing outdoor activities and learning new skills. During the rest of the programme, taking place over the following six weeks, they will work with their teams to learn about their community and organise and run their own social action projects.
NCS ambassador Bear Grylls said: “National Citizen Service is an incredible programme that reaches out to young people in all communities around the country and offers them the chance to learn great life and outdoor skills. It gives them opportunities to develop skills such as teamwork, leadership, adventure, pride and responsibility. I would urge young people to sign up to the places available to take part in this brilliant scheme this autumn.”
Minister for Civil Society Nick Hurd said: “We want to offer every teenager the opportunity to take part in National Citizen Service.”
“It’s an incredibly positive programme that brings young people from across the country together, stretching them with new experiences and with the chance to do something very positive in their community, while also developing skills that will make them more work-ready.”
The autumn programme builds on the success of NCS, now in its second pilot year, which was so popular that in the independent evaluation from 2011, nine out of 10 young people who had been involved said that they would recommend it to a friend.
