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The Bradford City FC Community Foundation have announced that they have secured the Open to All grant to deliver NCS (National Citizen Service) Community Experiences across West Yorkshire until March 2025. The experiences will engage 2,456 young people aged 15 (who are already in Year 11) to 17 free of charge across the county, with the Foundation receiving funding to run experiences across a two-year period, supplemented by additional funds in the form of free venues supplied by the Foundation, and supported travel for participants supplied by Northern Rail.
Ian Ormondroyd, CEO of the BCFC Community Foundation, said: “Here at the Foundation, we are delighted to have secured our funding bid for the NCS contract. The two-year contract gives the Community Foundation welcome security for the foreseeable future.”
NCS offers experiences designed for 16 to 17 year olds, and for young people (aged between 18 and 24) with special educational needs and disabilities. NCS runs year-round and offers a range of experiences for young people throughout the year. Since 2009, more than 800,000 young people have taken part in NCS, completing over 18 million hours of community action, and gaining life experience.
Mark Gifford, CEO of NCS Trust, said: “I am delighted to welcome a diverse range of local, grassroots and community organisations from across the youth sector to deliver reimagined NCS experiences. This allows us to reach more young people than ever before, ensuring they are equipped with the skills and perspective to become work ready and world ready. Additionally, our grants for targeted experiences will enable us to reach underserved young people and communities.”
The Foundation will be delivering the NCS experiences with a number of partners, including the Leeds United Foundation and Wakefield Trinity Community Foundation.
At grassroots level, the BCFC Community Foundation will work with children and young people alongside Skate It Yourself, an enterprise company teaching skills through skateboard training while developing their business acumen; All Star Enterprise, a music-led organisation delivering music production workshops, and HMP NOT-4-ME, an experience aimed at delivering education on the realities of incarceration and the importance of making good life choices, as well as drug and alcohol awareness.
The Foundation will also be supported by Be Well CIC, brought in as a SEND (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities) specialist to ensure the Foundation adapts its experience to provide greater inclusion, and Yorkshire Sport, a connected networking partner enabling the Foundation to engage with young people across West Yorkshire.
Northern Trains Ltd, a partner of the Foundation for eight years, will continue to strengthen the two organisations’ relationship by providing supported transport across the county for all children and young people taking part in the NCS experiences, ensuring economic and ecological accessibility for all. Richard Isaac, Regional Community and Sustainability Manager, Northern Trains Ltd, said: “Over the last eight years, Northern Trains Ltd’s partnership with the Bradford City FC Community Foundation has delivered thousands of volunteer hours to communities across the Network. It has broken down barriers between our staff and young people and helped Northern deliver rail confidence to over 5,000 young people. More importantly, it has showcased employment and skills opportunities in our industry and the opportunities accessible across the regions to young people. This partnership has directly benefited the rail industry in a host of ways but also showcased what fantastic young people we have in our regions and cities, who, given the opportunity, can do some amazing things."
Lizzie Saunderson, Director of Operations at the BCFC Community Foundation, said: “We are very excited to have been awarded the grant for West Yorkshire to continue delivering NCS experiences to young people in our community. Youth empowerment is vital to the work we at the BCFC Community Foundation and our partners do. Seeing young people inspired towards active, positive change is both a vindication of our combined efforts, and a success story for the government’s National Youth Guarantee. We are grateful to the NCS Trust for their continued work in supporting the empowerment and development of the young people we strive to engage with in our community.”
The Foundation invites interested parties to visit their website for more information on the NCS Experiences on offer and how to sign up. These experiences encourage participants to connect with their peers, create and develop new sets of skills, and inspire positive change in their communities.
Mark Gifford added: “Together, we will work towards creating a country of confident, connected, caring citizens where everyone feels at home.”
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