Onside Warrington Youth Club hosted their Graduation ceremony at Parr Hall during September for 315 young people who took part in the National Citizen Service (NCS) Programme this summer.
The event carried on the adventure theme by providing ‘Barbeque Chic’ catering, courtesy of Jaspers Catering Services.
NCS is a once in a lifetime opportunity, open to all 16 to 17 year olds in England, it helps them to build skills for work and for life whilst taking on new challenges and, according to many of the participants, “making great friendships for life”.
Every young person spends time with 15 other young peoples, taking part in three distinct chapters of what becomes a unique and personal NCS journey.
The event was opened by Andy Gatcliffe, Chair of OnSide Warrington Youth Club. He welcomed everyone and gave an overview of the plans for a Youth Zone in Warrington and the fantastic resources and opportunities that this would provide for children and young people.
Dave McNicholl, Chief Executive of Onside Warrington Youth Club, then explained how Onside Warrington Youth Club is more than just a ‘youth club’ and delivers a wide range of programmes supporting Children and Young people’s development.
Also stating that the NCS Graduation ceremony show the real impact of the programme, not only on all young people that participate, but also on their families and local communities.
Chris Stansfield from ‘The Challenge’ gave an overview of how the National Citizen Service is delivered across the country.
The keynote speaker of the evening was Professor Steven Broomhead, Chief Executive of Warrington Borough Council, who congratulated the young people on completing the programme and thanked them for the positive impact that they had across Warrington.
Phil McNicholl (NCS Practice Manager) compered the evening’s celebrations to an audience of over 600 people.
The graduation service involved representatives of the six waves, talking about their experiences, the projects they supported during the social action phases, their highlights from Phase 2 – the home residential week at Padgate Campus, and Phase 1 – the away residential week at Open Door Adventure Centre in St Asaph, North Wales.
Vicki Jones and Becky Unwin from Nichols PLC took to the stage to announce the winners of the Dragons Den competition, Ged McNicholl spoke about the work they had completed with groups of young people over the summer, culminating in announcing the winner of the ‘paper bridge’ project
One young person stole the hearts of each member of the audience with his speech. Jordan Dooley recalled his journey through Onside Warrington Youth Club starting at the age of 10 and culminating in his NCS Journey, thanking the Youth Workers, Volunteers and Young People that have helped him and received a standing ovation from a stunned crowd.
The closing speech was delivered by Mr David Briggs, Lord Lieutenant of Cheshire and president of Warrington Youth Club who paid tribute to both the young people themselves and the organisations supporting the programme.
He commended the young people on raising a staggering collective amount of £10,000 for a wide range of local causes during the social action projects and encouraging young people from Warrington to never give up and always show enthusiasm and zest!
Andy Gatcliffe, Chair of Onside Warrington Youth Club commented: “This was the largest event the organisation has organised to date, a huge congratulations to the young people who were a credit to the town.
“The support of Warrington Borough Council and many local businesses was instrumental in ensuring the event was so successful.”
Please click here to view photos from the Graduation.
