.jpg)
On Wednesday 29th August 2018, young people taking part in the National Citizen Service (NCS) in the West Midlands held an ‘out of this world’ charity fundraiser for their Social Action Project! In collaboration with The Staffordshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Staffordshire Police and the anti-social behaviour scheme ‘Space’, the event took place at Burntwood Dragons & Phoenix FC, raising money for Teenage Cancer Trust and Birmingham Children’s Hospital.
10 table cloths, 6 sets of bunting, 3 rolls of cello-tape, 18 cuddly toys, 3 boxes of chocolates and numerous tombola items were just some of the items unpacked, as the NCS WM1 cohort assembled their collections in preparation for their Social Action Project. The rain clouds rolled over the Burntwood Dragons & Phoenix FC ground but resilience kicked in as the #NCSLBD cohort refused to let the weather dampen all their hard work as they pushed on with erecting gazebos to shelter their fundraising activities.
As luck would have it the rain didn’t last and the true extent of the NCS team’s hard work was displayed, from painted artwork canvases, children’s face painting stalls, a fully stocked café serving tea, coffee and the most delicious cakes – (these went down a storm with all that attended the event.)
The collaboration
This particular Social Action Project stemmed from the collaboration Learn by Design has established this Summer 2018 with The Staffordshire Police and Crime Commissioner and the Space scheme that aims to tackle anti-social behaviour in the community. The Police and Crime Commissioner for Staffordshire, Matthew Ellis, relaunched Space in 2015, to provide fun activities for local youngsters during the school summer holiday period.
Charities supported
As part of the NCS Programme, the young people designed, managed and sourced materials in order to raise awareness and vital funds for their chosen charity. As an added showcase, this event saw colleagues from Lichfield Police and the Fire Service taking part in a friendly football match, whilst the NCS team led fundraising activities in the surrounding grounds.
Monies raised will be supporting charities including “The Teenage Cancer Trust” and “Birmingham Children’s Hospital” and the café stand alone hit a figure of more than £100 pounds thanks to the hard work of the NCS young people manning the stall.
Jack – young person on the NCS team said:
“Before taking part in NCS I was a shy, nervous person and not as talkative in social situations. Since taking part in the NCS programme I’m more confident in myself. I’m most proud of being part of the Social Action Project today, as I’ve never done charity work before and I’ve found it very rewarding.”
Live music showcased talent
One of the many highlights of the day saw live music from friends of the NCS cohort, supporting their peers and adding a festival atmosphere to the day. Bringing a full band set including drums, bass guitars and singers (one as young as 12 years old), the team all joined in to deliver a show that was not to be missed!
Not only did the scheduled singers deliver a fabulous performance but the event was blessed with a few surprise performances from members of the NCS team, who astonished everyone with their singing talents. The team also paid thanks to Chase Plant Hire who lent the group a generator for the day, allowing the live music to happen.
Take a look at some of the outstanding performances from the young people:
Visit our Youtube channel for more awesome videos from the day!
Event round up
Matthew Ellis rounded off the day by attending and congratulating the young people on all their hard work and dedication as the young people showed maturity, motivation and commitment throughout the whole event. We are looking forward to continuing this collaboration with NCS and the Space programme moving forward to 2019.
Special thanks
Huge thanks go out to Marisha from the Staffordshire Police team, Jon Connnolly Manager of the Space programme, Shona and Cherry for their attendance from The NCS Trust, Matthew Ellis The Staffordshire Police and Crime Commissioner and Rose Gardener – Learn by Design’s partnership Manager Co-ordinator. We can’t forget the generosity of the Burntwood Dragons & Phoenix FC who kindly supported the football team’s efforts and provided use of the club’s facilities.
We would also like to say special thanks to an amazing NCS cohort who took this Social Action Project on with passion and flair, showcasing newly learnt enterprise skills that will follow them through with their future goals.
View all photos from the project here.