
An “inspiring” group of West Norfolk teenagers have raised over £1000 for two local charities, as a way of giving back to their community through the National Citizen Service (NCS) programme run by the College of West Anglia.
The team of sixteen called Swift Ninjas (Team 4), headed up by NCS team leader Susan Davis, settled on helping two local charities; the West Norfolk Deaf Association and Brambles Animal Sanctuary.
They raised an impressive £1032, to be split equally between the two chosen organisations. Funds were raised through bucket collections in King’s Lynn town centre and a sponsored walk from Downham Market to King’s Lynn.
Team member Rohan Rostogi (16) from King’s Lynn, said: “When it came to planning our social action project [a part of the four week NCS programme open to all 15-17 year olds], we wanted to help local small charities rather than the larger national organisations, as we felt our money would have more of an impact on a local scale.”
Tracey Winterbone, technical advisor for the West Norfolk Deaf Association, said: “I would just like to say what a fabulous group of human beings this team are. We were very emotional in the office when we found out that they wanted to help our charity.
“Deafness is a relatively hidden aspect in society and the money will help us to improve the lives of deaf and hard of hearing people in West Norfolk. We will most certainly put it to good use and I just want to take this chance to say a huge thank you.”
Sue Duffield, owner or Brambles Animal Sanctuary, said: “I think they’ve done a fantastic job and we are so grateful that they chose Brambles to help. Each year it gets more and more difficult to raise enough funds to support what we do as more and more animals need our help, so this is a very welcome donation.”
Susan Davis, who also works as a progress coach at the College of West Anglia, added: “It’s been really quite inspiring to see young people wanting to do something for their local community and I feel privileged to have gotten to work with them over the last few weeks.
“I have always seen students getting involved with NCS at the college and thought it was time to give it a go myself as a team leader and I have really enjoyed working with this group of motivating young people.”
Fancy getting involved in NCS?
NCS is open to all 15-17 year olds and is based out of the College of West Anglia throughout the summer holidays. Those involved firstly spend one week on a residential trip to Mepal Outdoor Centre near Chatteris - where they develop team building skills and overcome personal fears and confidence issues - before moving on to complete a residential week at the University of East Anglia.
Time at the UEA is spent discussing community issues and moral values, before teams plan their final fortnight of activities known as their ‘social action project’. This final stage is a chance for the young people involved to give back to their local community through means of volunteering or fundraising.
Photo: L to R: Susan Davis, Rohan Rastogi, Sophie Rose - Land, Jamie Bly, Kayleigh Venables, Kayleigh Faith Jones, Joe Addison , Tracey Winterbone.