Young Citizens Help Out In The Bosco Garden

Twelve young volunteers from the National Citizens Service (NCS) got busy in the Bosco garden last week, helping to clear weeds and rubbish, washing pots, and generally making the place look much tidier.

The National Citizen Service is open to all 16- and 17-year-olds in England. It helps them build their skills for work and life, while taking on new challenges and meeting new friends. The scheme runs in the spring, summer and autumn and gives young people the opportunity to have a short time away from home and take part in a team project that will help their community.

NCS brings together young people from different backgrounds and helps them develop greater confidence, self-awareness and responsibility. It encourages personal and social development by working on skills like leadership, teamwork and communication.

Participants develop a social action project to deal with a local issue they’re passionate about, and spend 30 hours putting the project into action in their community. One of the projects chosen by the Sefton team was Bosco House.

Bosco manager, Sheila Howard, said: “All too often, young people are portrayed in a negative light by the news media – all they report on is gangs, drugs and antisocial behavior. So it’s great to see young people doing positive things in their community. They’ve been a great help and worked really hard today.”

One of the NCS volunteers, Dan McCann, said the group was only too glad to help out. “I think that what Bosco does is great. The way they look after people who have fallen on hard times,” he said.

“This is the kind of project that NCS is all about,” he added. “We’re coming to the end of our four weeks together and it’s been fantastic. I’ve had a great time and learned so much, about myself and other people. I’d recommend it to all young people.”

To find out more about NCS, go to their website www.ncsyes.co.uk