v and The Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust, together with local partners, will deliver National Citizen Service “Summer of a Lifetime” pilot

The expertise and track record of v and the DKH Legacy Trust in engaging and motivating young people, combined with the experience of local community partners, will be harnessed to give young people taking part in the National Citizen Service pilots a “Summer of a Lifetime”.

v will be managing the partnership and will coordinate the delivery of the NCS programme through its network of partners to deliver 1065 places in a range of locations across England.  v’s partners bring a wealth of experience from a variety of settings, including the Voluntary Sector, Further Education Colleges and Local Authorities.

Terry Ryall, v’s Chief Executive commented

“We’re delighted to have been chosen as a delivery partner for this flagship government pilot programme. Together with our local partners across the country and through our innovative social media activities, we have inspired 100,000s of young people to volunteer in ways that connect with their lives. We are confident that this experience will enable us to offer engaging, attractive and relevant opportunities for the young people taking part next summer.

We know that young people are full of creative ideas and want to make a difference to their communities.  We also know from our research and first-hand experience that once someone has taken part in social action it’s likely to lead to a lifelong involvement.”

The DKH Legacy Trust will bring a network of over 200 Olympic, Paralympic and world sporting champions who will be deployed to inspire groups of young people to undertake their National Citizen Service.  Many of their sporting champions have a level 3 mentoring qualification and are well placed to work alongside local partners to support local recruitment, community projects and graduation events.

v’s partners are:

• Blackburn College
• Bradford Council
• City of Wolverhampton College
• Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust (National)
• East Durham College
• Focus (Leicester)
• Gateshead Voluntary Organisations Council
• Greater Manchester Youth Network (Manchester, Oldham and Bolton)
• Harrow Council
• Hertfordshire Council
• Learning Partnerships (Leeds)
• Make a Difference/Milton Keynes College
• Newham College
• Oxfordshire Council
• Portsmouth Highbury College
• The British Red Cross (Ipswich, Clacton, Isle of Wight, Thames Valley and Barking & Dagenham)
• Staffordshire Council
• Voluntary Organisations Development Agency (Tyneside)
• Voluntary Action Derby
• YMCA Stoke on Trent
• Youth Federation (Cheshire, Wirral, Warrington and Halton)