On the 13th of October over 220 young people from across Cumbria will come together at Rheged to celebrate their involvement in this summer’s National Citizen Service.
The young people attending have all dedicated part of their summer to NCS taking part in outdoor activities, learning new skills and making a difference to their communities. Projects included building animal shelters in Penrith, improving community venues across the county, producing a film about issues facing young people in Barrow, running children’s holiday activity sessions in Carlisle, organising community events in Workington and fund raising for Mountain Rescue in the South Lakes.
“Our young people spent a summer full of adventure and excitement, learning new skills, making new friends, and improving their CVs with an exciting array of activities,” says Mark Bowman, Inspira chief executive.
The Graduation ceremony will start at 11.30am with Paul Oginsky, former adviser to the Prime Minister and architect of National Citizen Service, as the keynote speaker.
Minister for Civil Society Nick Hurd said: “The young people I have seen successfully completing National Citizen Service never fail to impress me. They have shown they have the drive and determination to make the most of their time both for their own benefit and the benefit of their communities.”
National Citizen Service has attracted some significant celebrity support including Bear Grylls, and actress Mellissa Suffield who spent time with young people from Cumbria at Lake Ullswater.
In the summer, thousands of young people across the country took part in the NCS course. Of those, 92 per cent said they would recommend the experience to a friend and 9/10 was the average mark given for how worthwhile NCS had been for them.
