Over 800 young people from Cumbria, and North Lancashire have been awarded with a certificate signed by the Prime Minister after graduating from the National Citizen Service (NCS), which is delivered by Inspira.
Over 1400 young people, families and VIP guests attended a graduation ceremony at the Rheged Centre, Penrith on Saturday 10th of October. The ceremony was held to commend the teenagers for giving up their school holiday to spend three weeks on the NCS programme.
The scheme, which is open to 16 and 17-year-olds is designed to develop skills for work and life, whilst also taking on new challenges and meeting new friends.
As part of the final phase of the programme, the teenagers developed their own social action projects around an issue they were passionate about in their local area.
In 2016, over 120,000 hours of social action has been completed across Cumbria and North Lancashire by Inspira’s NCS participants, raising much needed funds and awareness for both local and national charities.
Ellie Nicholson from Askham, a graduate of the programme said: “I feel really proud of what I have achieved and really happy I got the opportunity to meet so many amazing people on NCS.”
During the graduation ceremony, teens were reunited with their teams to share memories of their experience on the programme before being presented with a certificate by NCS graduates Jade Elliot (Blackburn Rovers) and Joe Philipson (NCS Trust).
Mark Bowman, Chief Executive of Inspira, said: “In just a few short weeks this extraordinary group of young people achieved so much and this graduation ceremony was held as an opportunity to celebrate and thank them for all their hard work. We were really impressed with their social action projects and how enthusiastic they were about supporting the local community. It was amazing to see how many new friends they made and we would definitely urge any 16-17 year olds in the area to sign up to take part in the programmes we are running this Autumn.”
NCS offers a unique opportunity for fun, adventure and discovery. It is open to all 16 and 17-year-olds for no more than £50. For more information or to sign up to the Autumn programme visit www.ncsnorthwest.co.uk
