Jo Churchill MP has welcomed new statistics which show a significantly increased uptake in young people from Suffolk, participating in the National Citizenship Service (NCS) between 2014 and 2015. The National Citizenship Service is a new voluntary and personal development scheme for 16-17 year olds. Announced in 2010, the scheme has been running during school holidays and encourages young people to partake in physical and team-building activities, gaining essential skills.
The latest figures show a 117% increase in young people from Suffolk taking part, with 328 young people taking part in 2014, rising to 710 in 2015. Overall, over 1000 16-17 year olds across Suffolk, have participated in the scheme.
Commenting, Jo Churchill MP said: “These new figures are absolutely fantastic news for the scheme, still in its early stages, and just go to show how successful it is in engaging young people with new and important skills.
Just recently, I met with some young NCS volunteers in Fornham All Saints who, as part of their social action project, were working with Age Concern to raise money and awareness.
The scheme runs throughout spring, summer and autumn school holidays, with autumn 2016 places now available for registration.”