Today marks the beginning of the biggest event in the NCS calendar, as the first wave of 600 young people from across the Doncaster community head to Hawkshead YHA in the Lake District for their summer programme.
There, they will embark on the first phase of the three weeks, exploring the depths of the Lakes, canoeing, abseiling and zip wiring through the forest in a number of team building activities.
Phase two and three of the programme then allow the participants to challenge themselves back in their home town as they create and deliver social action projects in the community, along with team building with Dame Kelly Holmes Trust.
NCS Officer, Tom Foy said: “We’re really looking forward to this summer and emulating last year’s experience. It’s been a long year of planning and recruiting and the team have really pulled together, so it’ll be a great feeling to see it unfold.”
Along with them travel 68 members of staff, who have prepared themselves for the adventure with a programme specific training camp that focuses on upskilling them to ensure they lay the groundwork for a hectic summer.
The training camp with Dreamkey emphasised managing a large group of young people in a residential setting, critical incident management and how to run a safe programme.
NCS Graduate and current team leader, Libby Smith explained the importance of the preparation.
“Our training delivered by Dreamkey and Club Doncaster Foundation allowed us to become better leaders, covering things like team building and first aid,” she said.
“I think by participating in the training it will allow the summer to reach its full potential.
“The whole experience has got me so excited for the summer as we got to meet co-workers and talk about this year’s programme.
“This is my third year doing NCS, once as a participant and second as staff and yet I still manage to challenge myself each time I go back.”
For more information about NCS, contact the team on 01302 764663 / ncs@clubdoncasterfoundation.co.uk