The NCS Trust has appointed 18 organisations, including Groundwork UK and UK Youth, who will deliver a new £2m pilot programme to reach more young people.
NCS Trust, which oversees National Citizen Service, launched the new ‘pathfinders’ programme last month to test new approaches and “deepen NCS’ reach into all communities by recruiting via channels outside of mainstream schools and colleges”.
The 18 organisations will between them deliver 2,200 NCS places this autumn. A spokeswoman for NCS Trust said that the total value of the contracts was between £2.1m and £2.9m.
Michael Lynas, chief executive of NCS Trust said: “The lessons learnt from these pathfinders will help us to shape delivery of NCS as we grow, so that we can continue to invest in local areas, reach young people from all backgrounds and deliver a life changing experience.
“We look forward to continuing to innovate and learn with more initiatives like this in the months and years ahead as NCS continues to reach deeper into communities.”
Earlier this year the Cabinet Office set a target of 360,000 places to be delivered in 2021. This year the target was 150,000 participants.
The full list of organisations who will be partnering with NCS to deliver the pathfinder pilot programmes this autumn are as follows:
- Groundwork
- Ambition (previously Clubs for Young People)
- (Essex) Boys and Girls Clubs
- UK Youth
- OnSide Youth Zones
- Elevation Network
- The Kenelm Trust
- (Bradford) YMCA
- Curious Minds
- Wakefield Council’s Youth Service
- Young Brent/Catalyst Housing
- Sea Cadets
- Creative Youth
- Belle Vue
- Cleveland Fire Brigade
- Citizens UK
- St Werburghs City Farm
- Aquarius
