National Citizen Service, the government's flagship youth volunteering scheme, will be piloted in Wales this autumn, two years after the Welsh government turned down funding from the UK.

The Office of Civil Society has set aside up to £300,000 in funding for the pilot that will involve between 200 and 300 young people in Wales. It is inviting applications by 3 July.

National Citizen Service, which began in 2010, is currently running in England and Northern Ireland, with around 70,000 young people taking part. It involves young people aged between 15 and 17 doing social action in their local community. It includes a short time away from home.

In 2012, the Welsh government turned down funding from the UK government to set up a National Citizen Service pilot in Wales, because it already spent £2m per year on similar volunteering schemes for youth organisations.

In January, the NCS Trust, the community interest company set up to manage the programme, appointed Michael Lynas, a former adviser to the Prime Minister, as its first chief executive.