Forty of our public services students have achieved National Citizen Service (NCS) awards after running community projects which raised over £700.
The NCS scheme, which is mainly government funded and open to 16 and 17 year olds, aims to encourage young people to take part in social action programmes while building work and life skills and developing socially and personally.
Offered for the first time as a bespoke programme within our public services curriculum, the course gave students the chance to take part in four days of adventurous outdoor activities in North Yorkshire followed by three days of community training and upskilling on subjects such as first aid, charity awareness, money skills from Barclays and sexual health workshops, delivered in college.
The students, who are studying on our Level 2, Level 3 Subsidiary and Level 3 (90 credit) Diplomas in Public Services, then had to develop and run team projects which would help organisations in their community.
Divided into three teams, our students completed a total of 672 hours organising and running their activities and raised over £700 for St Lukes (Cheshire) Hospice, Hope House Children’s Hospices and the Shine Bright Foundation, which funds research into breast cancer.
Their activities included football tournaments, an 11 mile sponsored walk, a three hour gym endurance challenge, raffles and a tombola.
The students were congratulated at a college awards ceremony by Charlotte Rowbotham, NCS Area Manager for Cheshire East, who said: “This was a great achievement by Reaseheath public services students. As well as developing greater confidence, self-awareness and responsibility, they also have an award which will look good on their UCAS personal statement and is recognised by many employers.”
Level 3 Subsidiary Diploma student Toni Clarke, 16, who wants to join the British Armed Forces said: “I enjoyed the independence of social planning, which I hadn’t done before, and I really felt I had achieved something when we raised money through our activities.
“I also tried some great new experiences and gained a solid group of friends on the residential course.”
