Leicester Tigers Foundation NCS gives 16 and 17-year-olds across Leicestershire and Rutland to take part in four weeks of activities and challenges, learning new skills for work and life.Week one this summer was based at Pioneer Camp in Shropshire, with team-building activities.
Reflecting on the experiences of the last seven days, Tigers NCS mentor Naomi Jones says: “The aim of the week is to get young people to work as a team and give them the opportunity to foster independent decision making. This is made possible through the work of residential mentors who help participants to recognise their achievements and to record these effectively for future reference when applying for further education or employment.
“As a mentor, I help encourage our young people to figure things out for themselves and make decisions which,” she says. “When the groups have only just got together, this can be challenging as they can lack confidence in themselves.
“My group was really very quiet at the start, but I’ve seen them grow so much in confidence even over the first week.
“A highlight has to be seeing our team really get behind one of our group who faced up to their fear of heights and seeing her tackle the high ropes before we left. Moments like that are incredibly rewarding as a mentor.
“I really feel that NCS has a lot to offer all the young people that are involved. It certainly would have helped me with my confidence and ability to work with people if I had the chance to get involved in a programme like this when I was coming out of my GCSEs.”
This group have now moved on to a week based at university, where they hear from guest speakers and take part in a number of challenges around business, finance and employment skills. Then they complete a two-week social action project in support a project of their choice.
The third of this summer’s Tigers NCS programmes starts next Monday (August 3).
For more information on Tigers NCS, phone Dave or Emma on 0116 217 1320 or visit http://www.tigersfoundation.org/programmes/ncs.php
