NCS participants help local community through social action projects

NCS participants help local community through social action projects

Throughout the summer, Sunderland’s Foundation of Light, NCS participants were tasked with different social action projects. Prior to the 2022 social action projects getting underway, Foundation of Light’s NCS team attended Farringdon School to give career advice to students who were close to completing their secondary school studies.

On arrival, Foundation staff were introduced to a student named Troy Uyan – a quiet and laid-back individual who lacked confidence.

After working closely with the Foundation, Troy made the decision to join the NCS programme. It was apparent in Troy’s early involvement that he was overwhelmed by some of the louder and more confident group members.

Troy joined the programme after he left school as he wanted to be active throughout the summer as well as wanting to make a difference through the NCS Social Action Projects.

The NCS programme has helped Troy’s confidence grow significantly, with him becoming more involved in group tasks, expressing his own thoughts and opinions. Troy has also demonstrated he is able to produce fantastic work when working on individual tasks, with his team work also being recognised by Foundation staff.

Participating in various physical activities was where Troy felt most content and at his happiest, however, the Secret Garden project was Troy’s personal success story of NCS.

This social action project is one of Foundation of Light NCS’s legacy projects – with our young people having visited this project five times in total, raising almost £1000 from the summer waves of 2022.

The Secret Garden is a garden regeneration project in the middle of Ford Estate, right in the heart of the local community. Throughout the summer, this project was attended by waves 1 and 3. Troy was part of the wave 1 group which involved general gardening tasks such as soil distribution, cleaning, weeding, painting, and getting the garden ready for the next stage of its progress.

“NCS has provided me with opportunities to open up to new experiences and meet new people.”

Troy Uyan, NCS Participant

“It was a pleasure to work with Troy. He engaged with all activities and really seemed to develop great communication and social skills.”

Craig Martin, NCS Coordinator at the Foundation

NCS is a fun, inclusive programme that helps young people get the skills, experience, and self-belief they need to achieve their future goals. The programme aims to make a life-changing difference to young people and how they approach life after school and enhances CVs, application forms and interview skills.

Participants also get the opportunity to mix with new people from different backgrounds, conquer adventurous challenges, pick up invaluable life skills and gain confidence to experience life more independently.