National Citizen Service (NCS) is a national programme, which allows students to spend two weeks of the summer holiday after Year 11 taking part in a residential, followed by a community social action project. This year approximately 50 students from De Lisle signed up for the programme, visiting Gilling Castle in Yorkshire for the residential phase and supporting a range of charities and organisations in our local community.
Find out more about NCS via: https://wearencs.com/
Read about how a local charity was supported by NCS students from De Lisle College via: https://www.peterlemarchanttrust.co.uk/news/ncs-students-group-2-wc-25th-july
Current Year 12 students, who took part in NCS over the summer, wrote the following article:
During Summer 2022, myself and other students spent two weeks on NCS for the first time since lockdown. Everyone on the trip said that they had an amazing time, despite going during a heatwave, and would 100% recommend it for others. We spent our first week having fun doing multiple activities such as: quiz night, capture the flag, a colour run, archery, axe throwing and so much more! After the first week, we went home for not only a well deserved rest from our fun week but also to prepare for the volunteering we had planned to do with our chosen charities, varying from Loros and Peter le Marchant to Gorse Covert Community Centre. Throughout the first week, all teams had a meeting to talk about and plan for their Social Action Project. We brainstormed how we could make an impact for our chosen charity by raising awareness, and maybe even some money!
One team worked with the Peter le Marchant Trust with the idea to help clean the canals by litter picking and to help build a sculpture out of the litter collected, named “Recycle Michael”. After that, the team planned a bake sale, but with a twist and took advantage of their ethnic diversity by selling food made from each of their backgrounds.
Another group undertook garden renovations at Gorse Covert Community Centre. This included painting sheds, clearing out weeds and making flower beds.
On their last day, they organised a children’s garden party which involved a bake sale, face painting, glitter tattoos and plant potting for the children to take home. All of the proceeds went to the community centre.
Here is our feedback about NCS:
“NCS was a great opportunity to learn life skills and meet new people” – Josh
“Very good experience and I would recommend it” – Samantha
“Lots of fun and met many new people who inspired me to try my best” – Lyn
“It was a lot of fun, made new friends and really enriched myself” – Jess
“It was an amazing experience, I met lots of new people and I would highly recommend it” – Harriet
“NCS allowed me to get out of my comfort zone and meet so many nice people, I would highly recommend” – Noal
“It allowed me to meet new people and try new things I never would have done” – Victoria
“NCS was a very different experience to something I’d usually join but it was one of the best decisions I have ever made and I would definitely recommend it.” – Chloe
“I believe that NCS is a once is a lifetime opportunity, I’d recommend it for everyone as it helped develop my life skills and gain independence which I believe will be key in the future” – Lewis
Noal, Josh, Evelyn, Lewis, Jess, Samantha, Ulric, and Victoria, Year 12
