This summer, our NCSers have been enjoying long sunny days (definitely some wet ones too), hanging with new mates, had a week of adventures staying away from home that they’ll talk about for years, a week of doing some good in their community, and becoming the best version of themselves over a 2 week NCS (National Citizen Service) programme.
NCS is a national programme with football clubs across the ninety-two alongside the EFL Trust and NCS Trust providing opportunities for young people aged 16-17 with experiences to enhance personal and professional skills, support their communities and enjoy their summer holiday - https://wearencs.com/
Colchester United Football in the Community NCS - Week 1
The excited participants arrived bright and early at the Shrub End Community & Sports Centre in Colchester to embark on their summer NCS adventure with nothing but a suitcase and a lot of nerves for meeting new people but came home with sixty-two new snapchat friends and memories forever.
After our coach drive up to sunny Norfolk, we immediately got stuck into some amazing activities. Within the hour, the participants and their team leader were up (very unsteadily) jumping the Leap of Faith and climbing up Jacob’s ladder on the high ropes which was over ten meters tall! Everyone pushed themselves to prove that “No We Can” do anything.
We all enjoyed many meals times together discussing every detail we had experienced the hours before, thinking about our next activities and planning our outfits for the Thursday night celebration party.
Congratulations to everyone who was in Jess’ group for winning the pizza and nachos for having the most points in your Be Epic Challenge, you smashed it getting nearly 3000 points! Well done to the other three teams for all your amazing efforts throughout the day. You all worked so well together as a team and should be proud of your achievements.
Colchester United Football in the Community NCS - Week 2
The start of the Social Action Planning can always be daunting when you feel that you cannot make a difference, however, all the teams came together to design and coordinate their our projects to make their mark in their local community.
Olivia’s team, organised an amazing charity Car Wash for Cancer Research UK which raised over £500! They worked so hard scrubbing cars all day long and coming up with creative solutions to their problems- my favourite being rinsing the cars off with water guns as we had no access to a hose pipe! That week proved to fourteen young people that when you work together, you can achieve more then you believe you can, making their team leader very proud.
Thank you to everybody who joined us and made a difference to yourself, the team leaders, and the community, we all look forward to see you again at our graduation event soon!
If you would like to know more about joining us on NCS next summer please visit https://www.cu-fc.com/fitc/our-programmes/inclusion/national-citizen-service/ or contact Olivia.solanke@colchesterunited.net for more information.