A group of teenagers visited an ambulance hub last month as part of an initiative to teach them skills not taught in a classroom. National Citizen Service (NCS) aims to create young positive citizens aged 16-17 by developing their skills and giving them opportunities to work with different organisations in a three week summer programme. The programme is delivered locally by The Challenge, one of the largest providers of NCS, whose aim is to help build a more connected society by ensuring different groups and individuals mix at a young age.
The group of 12 teenagers met with Birmingham North Area Manager Dean Jenkins for a tour of Erdington Hub on Wednesday 26th August before learning about the ambulance service and the challenges it faces. Dean said: “It was a pleasure to support NCS with their programme. The youngsters had a real passion to excel themselves, expand their knowledge and were genuinely interested to learn more about the ambulance service and the NHS as a whole.”
Rosa Amato, Programmes Associate for The Challenge, said: “The team had really great feedback on the visit. Dean and his manager helped them to perfect a ‘Dragons Den’ type pitch the group had to perform the following day to secure funding for a campaign idea they were working on to help improve an elderly care home. The visit was really inspiring for the youngsters and they now understand the unbelievably hard task the ambulance service have to undertake. As an added bonus, the campaign pitch they practiced during the visit landed the teens the funding needed to carry out their work at the care home which they’re due to complete later this month. Thank you to West Midlands Ambulance Service for their hospitality.”
