Brief
silence. A hand shoots up. “Social enterprise is, like, when Jamie Oliver
teaches homeless people to cook, right? Social enterprise is a charity
business.” A small pause as she recalls the second question I’ve asked her. “Oh,
and I want to work in events management.” And so another year as Summer Staff
at NCS with the Challenge is well underway. I’m lost for words as I look at my
team of Young People. Although they have already impressed me last week with rock
climbing, hiking and canoeing, showing fearsome team support and bonding as
soon as Day One, today already seems to be topping even that.
Next.
“I want to work in artificial intelligence.” “Um, graphic design.” “I’d quite
like to… Be Prime Minister.” Oh right – nothing too difficult, then. Was I this
sorted when I was sixteen? Surely not. This lot are incredible.
Although,
after five summers at NCS with the Challenge, I should have learned: they
always are. A fact completely unanticipated in July 2012 when, a week before
the London Olympics began, I sobbed in the car, begging my mum to take me back
home. “I don’t want to go! It’s going to be… Weird!” the sixteen-year-old me whimpered. “I won't like anybody!”
Yet
four years later, and the Rio Olympics in the limelight, I'm still coming back
for more, and not one year of my journey with NCS has failed to impress or
amaze me. Starting with my own 2012 experience as a participant after my GCSEs,
completing two years of volunteering as an Associate Mentor then Senior
Associate Mentor, and then beginning my journey as a Senior Mentor in 2015, I truly
have seen the ins and outs of the entire programme and feel lucky to know both
sides of the process. How I respected my Senior Mentor four years ago continues
to inspire me as I work with my own team now, and my own memories of my time on
NCS with The Challenge give me absolute faith that with the right encouragement
and empowerment, every single young person we work with has the potential to
achieve incredible things.
 |
(Clockwise from top left) Me as a participant in 2012; me
as a member of staff 2016: during the talent show, Dragons Den day, dressed as
a "Roadman" by my team
|
 |
| Hiking on the Isle of Wight, 2015 |
I used to think, in
fact, that NCS attracted the best of the best (how else would team after team after
team succeed so perfectly and be so motivated, intelligent and hard-working?
How else would I see so many original campaigns and inspiring speeches?) –
young people who were without fail driven, kind, supportive, eager to be
creative and willing to volunteer. The stars of their school, the rare gems of
their community. I was astounded that whatever the challenge, they managed to take
responsibility, think for themselves and make a difference. However, I was
wrong. NCS does not simply bring in a specific streamlined breed of young
people who are all automatically equipped to inspire and destined to change the
world. Instead, the NCS programme has the ability to include and involve any
single young person in the country, and then coax out that inevitable, dazzling
talent within them – regardless of
who they are. That’s right – watch out, world. They are all capable.
And
when it comes to raw material to work with, we are ready for, and actively
welcoming of, anything. The entire programme is about social mixing and
inclusivity – any background or past is welcome and an astonishing number of tailored
staff roles are at hand to cater for any severity of anything from a physical
disability, to a mental illness, to a learning difficulty. Rest assured that
you will be on a learning curve, no matter the part you play, but the
challenges faced become the glue between a staff team, the bond between young
people, and ultimately the most valuable lessons each participant takes with
them for life. ‘Challenge yourself’ is on our code of conduct, and with good
reason.
It has been a joy to watch NCS with The Challenge develop
since I first became involved: only
six years after the initial pilot of the programme, the ball is well and truly
rolling, and I have faith that the momentum won’t be lost any time soon. NCS
does not simply tell the young people of today to go into their communities and
change what isn’t good enough; it shows them how to do so, and then encourages them to do it themselves. If ‘teaching
a man to fish lets him eat for life’, then NCS is the equivalent of teaching a person
the necessary skills to fish sustainably, to create a fishing business and then
to divide produce amongst those unable to fish themselves… With some guidance
on campaigning for endangered fish in their free time.
So…
Why do NCS with The Challenge? Why work with us? Why participate?
I've been to Sussex. Durham.
Isle of Wight. Devon. I’ve visited countless charities, businesses and local
high streets. I've managed teams, made films, organised talent shows, directed
workshops, been moved to tears, been confided in, and been utterly humbled. I’ve
had Total Eclipse of the Heart sung
to me while frozen with fear at the top of a high ropes course. I’ve had my
hand grabbed as I jump, shrieking, into the sea. I’ve campaigned about social media
and mental illness in teens, given speeches on the dangers of stereotyping,
visited Make-A-Wish foundation, listened to stories about the Second World War
from people who were there. Now, years later and a member of staff, I’ve performed
S Club 7 tributes, been dressed up as a “roadman” (twice), witnessed the most seemingly
unlikely friendships grow time and time again until I have come to expect them,
dealt with complex situations I never thought I would, learnt to cherish the unexpected,
held myself and others together (and in turn been held together too), watched
fundraisers and performances of a lifetime, been made to laugh until I was in
pain – and it’s my job. Is it any
wonder that four years on, I still consider NCS an essential part of my summer?
I
genuinely believe that NCS with The Challenge is the beginnings of the
revolution of thought we so badly need in this society and across the globe. Social
mixing, acceptance, respect, team-building and communication are being
instilled from the ground up, from the generations that will form our future
leaders and communities. NCS with The Challenge is encouraging, year by year,
the foundations of the change our messy society is thirsting for, through a
committed ethos of inspiration and social action.
Current
affairs may seem bleak, but have faith: there are good things coming… And while
they may be only sixteen years old today, just you wait. They could well change
the world.
