There’s just one week until Leeds Rhinos Foundation kick off the first wave of their Summer 2021 NCS programmes which will be delivered to more than 150 young people from across the city.
After last year’s programmes were heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, this year’s NCS takes on a more familiar look with three different two-week programmes giving teenagers a fantastic opportunity to make this summer one they’ll never forget.
Throughout their time on NCS with Leeds Rhinos Foundation, participants can expect to meet a bunch of new mates, learn life lessons, skills and hacks, get their voice out there, and push themselves to new limits…in the best way possible!
To find out a little bit more about what the groups will be getting up to this summer, take a look at this breakdown of our confirmed Summer 2021 NCS programme details:
STAGE ONE: Live Life
To kick off the programme, teams will meet up at Emerald Headingley Stadium and head over to Leeds Beckett University’s Carnegie Village for an action-packed day of fun team games, outdoor activities and ice-breakers.
Once they’ve got to know their teammates, our young people will begin the planning of their Social Action Projects with us back at Emerald Headingley. Teams will be given a menu of possible social action projects relevant to the local area and organisations will also come in to pitch their availability, demonstrating their area of work and how the young people can make a positive impact through their voluntary work.
After they have chosen a social action project to deliver, each team will be asked to create a presentation detailing what it is and how it will be implemented, which is to be presented to a panel of guests in a ‘Dragons Den’ style pitch.
The week also includes a series of workshops designed to develop key life and employability skills, with organisations such as Loudspeaker, Go Higher West Yorkshire and Leeds Building Society coming in to deliver the sessions.
There will also be chance for the young people to get out into the local community to complete some different orienteering and mapping challenges, whilst gaining a better sense of identity of the areas they will be completing their social action projects in.
STAGE TWO: Do Good
With the first stage of the programme now complete, it is down to the team and to individual participants to use their skills, confidence and understanding of the community to put their plans into practice. Each participant is expected to undertake at least 30 hours of voluntary social action through the projects they have extensively planned and prepared.
Working in partnership with their chosen beneficiaries, participants will be asked to keep a record of what they have done and will begin working together with the rest of their team to create positive change in their community. This is the chance for participants to get their voice heard on an issue they care about and keep doing good by using the tools and skills they have acquired to make a lasting impact.
The social action projects will take place in Leeds across four full days, before completing a SAP wrap-up which is all about teams reflecting together on the impact they’ve had on their community, the highs and lows of their projects, and how they’ve developed as individuals and a team through the process of planning and delivering projects.
STAGE THREE: Go Party
When all the NCS teams have completed their programme, a large-scale graduation event will take place in the Emerald Suite at Emerald Headingley Stadium to recognise and celebrate what has been achieved by all our young people. Each person will be given a certificate signed by the current UK Prime Minster recognising their achievements and will get to enjoy a fun party with all their new friends.
We hope that NCS participants will play an active part in leading this event and parents, NCS team workers and organisations that have supported the programme will also be invited to take part. The graduation event will also be an opportunity to showcase continued opportunities for volunteering in the local community, working as a volunteer in support of next year’s teams and more.
Discover more about our NCS programme and download all the key programme materials by visiting our dedicated NCS Hub here.
For more information, please contact michael.wooldridge@leedsrhinosfoundation.org.