MY NCS STORY!

Hey guys, so today I'm going to talk to you about my experience on NCS and what I have learnt from the experience!

NCS = National Citizenship Service - it's a great way to meet people close to your age and to do something worthwhile in your summer. NCS is open to 15-17-year-olds and also looks fab on your CV which makes you more employable. Win win!

My experience, in general, was great. The first week was inevitably the hardest. I'm pretty much a home bird and rarely stay anywhere other than my house (except for sleepovers). This meant that the week residential away from home was super hard. Don't get me wrong I loved the activities with my team and my mentor was really supportive but I just missed home. Also, I was in a team with 14 people that I didn't know but I realised that everyone is in the same boat so I made a few friends. I'm no social butterfly though!

Week 2 was a lot better. I stayed in University accommodation which was really fun! Also, the girls in my flat were all lovely. On the first night, we had a Come Dine With Me evening where 3 groups of 2 had to make a dish and I really enjoyed going to the shops with my 'flatmates' and choosing what to make. Unfortunately, I had to leave a day early from this week so I missed the First Aid course with the army! I was gutted.

I much preferred week 3. My team and I met at a nearby college and planned our social action project. This meant that after each day I could go HOME! The social action project is where you and your team set a weeks worth of fun events in order to help raise money for a charity. We chose Newlife as the money raised is used closer to home. I also ran all the social media aspect of our campaign so most of my work was done at home.


Week 4 was by far the greatest. On Monday we bag packed at large superstore and I loved it. The customers were very generous and I loved the whole idea of giving something back to the community. Tuesday was a great night we hosted a party with two other teams and had a whole lot of fun. Wednesday was Super Sonic Boom which is an event for teenagers - we held an awesome bake sale. On Thursday was the sponsored 10-mile walk - we raised over £200 alone on this event. On Friday, however, we had planned another bake sale but the rain came  and threw us of our plans. Our mentor, however, said that we had all done our 60 hours and let us have the day free.

Overall I've learnt social skills as I didn't know any people in my team and now a few are very good friends. I also learnt that giving back to the community is such a rewarding feeling!

If you live in the UK and are aged between 15-17 sign up now for next summer! What are you waiting for?

Find out more: http://www.ncsyes.co.uk/

Thanks,
Amber
xx