Teenagers from North Kirklees recently completed the National Citizens Service (NCS) ‘Keep Doing Good’ digital programme by working on Social Action projects and learning more about the work of local charities.
The six 15-17-year-olds from Kirklees took part the two-week online programme, hosted by the Huddersfield Town Foundation, and worked with local partner charities Yorkshire Air Ambulance, the Jo Cox Foundation, Natural Kirklees and Musica Kirklees.
The participants learnt more about the work each charity does for the local community and also about the impact the Coronavirus pandemic has had on their provision.
Each day, the six participants completed a social action project based on the charity they learnt about. Some of the different learning areas included Expressing Yourself, Pride in your Local Area, Values, Personality Tests, Group Dynamics and Lockdown Reflections.
The teenagers also came up with some excellent fundraising ideas for the charities as they contributed creative ways to celebrate Yorkshire Air Ambulances 20th birthday and the contributed ideas for JCF’s 2020 Great Winter Get Together.
To complete the programme, the participants were tasked with creating a new community feature for a local green space for Natural Kirklees. They also took part in a creative arts project with Musica Kirklees, creating a short musical piece or poem to send to someone in need.
Everyone who completed the programme will be awarded an NCS e-certificate as well as a congratulatory bag from the Huddersfield Town Foundation.
On the programme’s success, Town Foundation NCS Coordinator Evan Hall said: “With local restrictions in Kirklees altering our original plans to deliver some actual volunteering, we adapted quickly to move online and are delighted with the engagement and high quality of work our young people produced for our charity partners.
“To hear the young people, comment on how the programme helped them get back into a routine and feel productive after a difficult through months was very rewarding. We are grateful that we could contribute something to help our local area and to the national NCS Keep Doing Good effort!”
The next cohort of 15-17-year-olds will take part in the next NCS programme in October 2020.
