NCS Celebrates 10 years!
On Friday 30 July, the NCS Team were invited by ITV Westcountry to support a national campaign celebrating 10 years of delivering life changing experiences for teens. Ruth Shippobotham (Project Lead) and Lauren Sigrist (Quality and Graduate Coordinator) spoke with ITV reporters about the role that Petroc has played in the NCS’s 10 year lifespan and the impact the scheme has on the young people who participate, their families and the wider community.
Petroc has delivered NCS programmes since the scheme was piloted in 2011, and during this time has supported NCS participants in raising tens of thousands of pounds for local charities and organizations; as well as committing to almost 50,000 volunteering hours as part of the ‘Do Good’ phase of the experience. The other phases of the programme include ‘Be Epic’, ‘Live Life’ and ‘Do More’, with each phase focusing on different key skills to support young people in building resilience and confidence, enhancing mental health and wellbeing and preparing for the transition to adulthood.
The NCS programme is designed specifically for young adults to give a clearer idea about the range of options available to them in the future. Petroc supports young people to be ‘world-ready and work-ready’ by delivering NCS and supporting the development of a range of skills not typically covered in the classroom including: living away from home, social mixing, team building and volunteering.
During 2020, Petroc adapted to offer non-residential experiences to students as part of the ‘Keep Doing Good’ and ‘School Support’ programmes. Focusing specifically on areas such as; Post Covid Socialisation, Health and Wellbeing, Volunteering and Employability, Petroc were able to support over 400 students across North Devon and Exeter as the country began to emerge from the shadow of COVID-19.
Reflecting on the summer 2021 programme, one parent commented; “Young adults leave school with only GCSEs to show for the past 16 years. This pushes them to have experience in many different ways and prepare for a workplace.” Another participant in the programme added; “It was a great experience and I learnt a lot of things that could help me with decisions in the future.”
For more information on how you can get involved in the NCS programme for the autumn 2021 or summer 2022 please email elizabeth.stevenson@petroc.ac.uk or call 01271 852429. The ITV Westcountry piece is due to air next Tuesday at 6pm. #NoWeCan
