The journey of Hannah Purdy from participant to ambassador.
Back in 2013 a young and quiet, year 11 student from Outwood academy in the name of Hannah Purdy decided to sign up to Doncaster Rovers Foundation’s (Club Doncaster Foundation) blossoming summer NCS programme. Without knowing much about the programme, she stepped up and signed up to what was about to be the best summer of her life.Throughout the programme, participants are challenged not only through the physical activities, but also, mentally on their journey.
Participants will learn vital skills such as, leadership, communicating with outside partners such as Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council (DMBC), reflection, increased responsibilities and independence.
Hannah talks about the best moments of her journey, “The best part about my NCS journey was the activities that we took part in throughout the 2 weeks away on residential," she said.
"On the first week we took part in activities like rock climbing, abseiling, canoeing and mountain hiking which was really challenging for me and pushed me to my limits. This definitely helped me grow as a person as it improved my 'can-do' attitude.
“I made some great friends who I am still in contact with now and it is an experience I will never forget.
“For my social action project I wanted to give something back to the children of our community, so me and my team went out into town and raised as much money as we could to buy toys for the children's hospital in Doncaster. I felt really great about doing this as I knew that I would be making a difference to a child life, however small that may be.”
Clearly, Hannah provided some leadership, as she was able to bring her ideas to life.
NCS Officer Jan Budtz, expressed his delight with how Hannah had applied herself to the programme, developing and using her leadership skills to carry out her desired social action project within the team.
Jan noted “I was particularly impressed with Hannah’s journey throughout NCS. She went from not knowing or even having heard about NCS to delivering a very successful project through means of teamwork and leadership with her group.”
Hannah went on to express how she had learnt to love NCS and how she wanted to be a part of its future, with the Club Doncaster Foundation.
“I wanted to carry on with NCS however I could, so when I heard about the graduation scheme I jumped at the chance. I was able to go back on the trips for another year in the summer as an assistant leader, working with the leaders and being able to help out with the groups where they needed it, which is when I started getting respect and when I was starting to be treated like another leader, instead of a graduate.
“After my experience being a graduate I still couldn't stop there, so Tim and Jan hired me with the Club Doncaster Foundation to become a qualified NCS leader in October. I was so thrilled and jumped at the chance- and that is how I became a member of the NCS team."
Hannah has become a vital part of the NCS delivery team and continues to develop throughout each programme she is involved in. She makes reference to how much she enjoys working on NCS and the opportunities it’s given her for the future.
“I love being an NCS leader, it is more like a hobby than a job and the experience is just as incredible as the first time in 2013, just different places to see and different people to share it with.
"I am so lucky to be a part of this team and I am treated with the same respect as all of the other leaders which I love. Also, this has been vital to my professional development as it provided a large section of my UCAS application for university and made reference to my NCS experience as a participant and more importantly a leader.”
Hannah has gone from strength to strength throughout this fantastic journey; she is the pinnacle of what we expect from our NCS participants and we are now proud to have her represent Club Doncaster Foundation.