Ben Howlett, the Member of Parliament for Bath, has presented graduation certificates to this year’s participants in the National Citizen Service Summer programme.
The National Citizen Service is open to all 16 and 17 year olds in England and runs 3 programmes a year.
The initiative allows young people build skills for work and life, whilst also taking on new challenges and meeting new friends.
This summer, the NCS ran a programme in Bath along with local youth organisation Off the Record Bath, where 90 young people were able to spend a week at an outdoor activity centre, a week learning life skills and community awareness at Bath University and then the opportunity to plan and deliver a local social action project.
Following the event, Ben Howlett said: “I was honoured to be invited to represent the Prime Minister to celebrate the fantastic work of the 90 young people who have spent the summer learning essential life skills outside of the classroom.
“This fantastic Government scheme was launched to bring together young people from different backgrounds and encourage personal and social development by working on skills such as leadership, teamwork, and community engagement.
“Judging by their presentations, the participants all had a fantastic and enjoyable summer, and they should all be very proud of what they have achieved.
“I hope they use these experiences and skills to blossom into respectable young adults.”
Ed Hodges, Director of Joining Forces Training Ltd commented: “We were delighted that Ben was able to attend the NCS graduation event for 90 young people in Bath.
“He had an obvious enthusiasm for the programme, and was able to engage the parents and young people, particularly in highlighting the importance that the Government places on the programme and the great contribution that young people make to their community.
“Groups of young people have been busy on the programme throughout the summer, challenging themselves, learning to work effectively as a team, and delivering a range of social action projects across the city.
“As well as learning new skills and building their confidence the young people have had a huge amount of fun, evident by the hilarious graduation presentations.”
Lynda Williams, Director of Off the Record said: “Off The Record were very pleased to be involved with this year’s NCS and to attend the graduation ceremony which was a fantastic evening, the young people who took part in NCS clearly learnt a lot about teamwork, social responsibility, they made some great friends and had fun.”
