Wimbledon and Putney Commons welcomes the National Citizens Service

Pete Haldane, our Wildlife and Engagement Officer, often works with local organisations and youth groups, Duke of Edinburgh Award Schemes etc and, over the last two weeks, he has had the great pleasure of hosting a series of visits by young people involved in this year’s National Citizen Service (NCS) programme.

Open to all 15 to 17 year olds across England and Northern Ireland, the aim of NCS is to help those involved to learn new skills and gain confidence through taking on a series of challenges and meeting new friends.

In addition to the life skills that participants are able to gain through their stay at an outdoor activity centre, one of the key aspects provided by the NCS challenge is to become involved in a social action project which will help to contribute more to their local community.

Providing the perfect venue for this element of their programme, the initial visit made by the group was to learn about the Commons, what we do to conserve them and why this and their own contribution is of so much importance to the local community.

Following on from this visit, the next stage of the social action project was to put both mind and body into gear by getting involved in a practical volunteering session and through carrying out their own campaign which, in this case, was to help promote the Commons as the perfect environment for exercise and sport.

Peter commented “Despite soaring temperatures on all three of the group’s visits to the Commons, the young people who we met from this year’s programme were most definitely a credit to the local community and a great advertisement for the NCS project as a whole”.

It goes without saying that we wish them and the NCS campaign all the best in the future.

If you are part of a local group or organisation and would like to get involved in a similar event on the Commons, please do e-mail Peter.