NCS, the National Citizen Service, is the initiative which promises the experience of turning ‘no you can’t’ into ‘yes you can’, with 16 and 17-year-olds enjoying the chance to develop their skills and sense of teamwork during the fortnight’s programme.
The first week is spent on a residential with the young people working together for a mixture of activities and workshops, in some cases conquering their fears, before the second week when they design and deliver their own social action project with support from Foundation staff.
The first of the Foundation’s two summer cohorts have completed their programme including the residential at the Hen Cloud outdoor recreation facility near Leek, and the second group will start on Monday.
“It was great to get back on the residential, the first we have been able to do for three years because of the pandemic,” said Bradley Moore, senior education officer with Wolves Foundation.
“It was a really exciting week not just for the young people but also staff who enjoyed getting back out and about helping deliver activities.
“It was a really varied week with a mixture of different activities, starting from the day we arrived with a graffiti workshop where participants were able to show off their artistic skills and take away their own canvas at the end.
“There was also a day of water sports and orienteering, a ‘food for thought’ session making smoothies, and an activity called ‘Weaselling’.
“It is known as that because of the nature of what they had to do including climbing up Hen Cloud, going over the top, under, across and around like a weasel!
“A few of the young people were scared of heights and had to conquer their fears but it was a really beneficial activity in encouraging them to do that and support each other.
“We also had a visit from Clare Mullin, an outreach officer at the Houses of Parliament who works as senior education and engagement officer for the West Midlands.
“Clare gave a talk about how the young people might be able to influence politics in the future, as well as the importance of their social action project.
“That was some parliamentary outreach which they all really enjoyed, another really valuable part of a jam-packed week.
“All the participants had a good time getting out of their comfort zone, experiencing new activities and meeting new people.
“Obviously we now live in a very digital world but there was very limited phone service and signal at Hen Cloud so everyone needed to interact with each other face-to-face which was great to see.”
During the week, participants grouped up to deliver a Dragon’s Den style ‘pitch’ to decide on the social action project, and a secret ballot determined that the theme would focus on sustainability and the environment during the second week based at Molineux.
“The beauty of the social action project is that it is led by the young people themselves and just guided by us so they can really develop and pursue their own ideas,” added Brad.
One of the participants, 16-year-old Anna Mayor from Codsall, first became interested in attending NCS after hearing about it at a school assembly and was delighted to have taken part.
“I didn’t come with any of my friends because I wanted to meet lots of new people from all over Wolverhampton and do lots of different activities,” said Anna.
“I really liked the idea of going camping and with social action too, it was a nice challenge and a nice thing to go and do during the holidays.
“We organised how we could promote positive environmental change around Molineux which went well and was good fun.
“I feel recycling is all a bit of a mess now, the worst it’s been in ages, so the fact we’re doing something to help it as a group will help us to do more, so it’s quite important to get to do that here.
“The week’s residential was so good, we did rock climbing and weaselling, where we would go through all the little holes in the hills, and water sports.
“I love being adventurous and getting out of the house – and it was all stuff you wouldn’t be able to do at home.
“The weaselling was probably my favourite - you went so high and could see so far! I took so many photos of it, that was awesome.
“Without NCS it’s something I probably wouldn’t have got to do for a long time, so to do it all in one week was just really cool and I loved it.”
