Story added: 15th September 2016

Participants raise thousands for local charities

This summer, over 700 young people participated in the National Citizen Service (NCS) programme with the Community Sports Foundation (CSF) and undertook a range of social action projects with the aim of raising awareness and funds for local charities.

From coffee mornings to quiz nights, the teenagers had their hands full as they took part in 60 hours of voluntary work, following two weeks of residential trips and team-building activities.

The youngsters raised an impressive £14,000 for 23 local charities including the Community Sports Foundation, Clic Sergent and Nelson’s Journey.

Working with Diss Town Council, some of the participants organised a ‘flash mob’ in the town centre while a Norwich-based group showcased their talents with a live music performance in the city centre.

In Wymondham, one of the groups picked up their paint brushes and gardening tools as they spent the week decorating homeless shelters and revamping the communal areas of a care home.

’Pokemon Go’, was the driver for another group’s fundraising activity; the teenagers took part in a 10-mile sponsored walk dressed up as characters from the game that was this summer’s craze.

NCS Project Officer Paul Sykes said:

“The social action projects have provided an excellent opportunity for the young people to develop valuable team-building and communication skills.

“The programme has allowed the participants to donate a lot of hours to a variety of community projects and raise a significant amount of money for local charities – this is brilliant to see.”

Following the completion of the programme, the young people celebrated their fantastic achievements at four graduation events throughout August.

CSF trustee Jake Humphrey was the guest of honour at one of the events, held at Carrow Road; he presented the teenagers with certificates and praised the groups for their hard work.

More than 275,000 young people have already said ‘Yes’ to NCS. Are you 15-17 years old? NCS is a once-in-a-lifetime experience and starts up again this Autumn half-term. Sign up here.

GALLERY : View photos from Wave 1 & 2 and Wave 3 & 4.