On Saturday 7th October, students from the College of West Anglia came together to celebrate their completion of the National Citizen Service (NCS) summer programme. NCS is a skills building programme for 15 to 17 years olds, delivered by a series of charities, college consortia and Voluntary, Community, Social Enterprise (VCSE) and private sector partnerships across England. This year CWA had its highest number of participants, with 400 young people attending over five ‘waves’. The programme is broken down into stages: Adventure, Discovery, Social Action and then Graduation. This year’s Adventure stage took place at Hautbois Activity Centre, where the students participated in a number of outdoor activities such as canoeing, bridge building, climbing and abseiling. They then ventured to the University of Nottingham for the Discovery aspect to develop life skills like confidence, leadership and communications. For the Social Action element, students organised a number of charitable events: these included visiting Peterborough City Hospital’s children’s ward while dressed as superheroes and princesses to donate presents, raising money for ‘On the Ball’ testicular cancer charity, and renovating a playground for St Martin’s Primary School in Shouldham. To celebrate these achievements, a graduation ceremony was held at the Alive Leisure Corn Exchange, King’s Lynn. Over 850 people attended, including VIPs and key supporters from CWA. It was a wonderful night to celebrate all the young people who had stepped out of their comfort zones and said ‘Yes to NCS’. Rob Simpson, NCS Programme Delivery for CWA, said “A massive congratulations to all of the participants who have graduated this year. I would like to thank all those within the college and the wider community who have helped us make NCS a success, not just this year but every year.” More information about the National Citizen Service can be found at ncsyes.co.uk