More than 800 young people from Kent aged 15-17 attended the National Citizen Service (NCS) summer programme CACT delivers as part of its Social Action & Enterprise strand.
In total, 813 participants from a variety of different backgrounds enjoyed the experience.
NCS is a four-week programme that combines personal and team challenges and comprises activities which involve personal development and also benefit the local community. This summer’s activities included canoeing, rock climbing and CV-writing workshops, while fundraising is also a key part of the programme.
There are three phases of the programme: Adventure, Discovery and Action.
Nine special guests visited this summer’s NCS programme, including Lord Adonis, NCS Patron, and a delegation from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport.
Some visitors formed a Dragon’s Den-style panel to judge presentations from young people on the programme, who had the opportunity to pitch ideas and develop their communication skills.
The young people delivered presentations on a range of topical issues, and the guests were extremely impressed with their work.
Matt Cowlam, CACT’s NCS Programme Manager, said:
“We were very fortunate to host some VIP guests at our NCS programme to see young people taking part in Social Action.
“The feedback we had was fantastic and shows that we are delivering a high quality NCS programme in Kent.”
Pat Russell, Strategy Design Manager, Scouts and NCS, said:
“I got so much out of talking to the young people and their team leaders, who are a credit to CACT.”
CACT’s autumn NCS programme got underway on Thursday 6 September.