Charlie’s NCS Journey

With NCS Matchday rapidly approaching (vs. Blackburn Rovers, Wednesday 23rd February), we sat down with our NCS Recruitment Coordinator, Charlie Boulby, to talk about her NCS journey.

Here’s Charlie in her own words:

My NCS journey began in 2019, when I joined as a participant. I undertook NCS not having a clue what to expect and ended up having the best summer of my life! The part I enjoyed the most was the social action work where my team and I raised money for a local heart charity. We planned and hosted a quiz night, alongside many other smaller fundraising events and ended up raising over £1000!

After I completed the programme, I continued my NCS experience by joining the graduate scheme which focuses on continued support for local charities, raising awareness for important causes and helping shape future NCS programmes. However, this was cut short due to the pandemic, so I decided to spend more time focusing on my A-Levels.

The relationship between myself and the Foundation was never truly lost, and it wasn’t long before I came back to NCS after I applied to be a team leader for summer 2021. This was really rewarding as not only did it give me the opportunity to give something back, but it boosted my confidence skills massively, especially after coming out of lockdowns.

Being a team leader helped me explore a different kind of responsibility that I had never experienced before. Working with people of all different ages and backgrounds, I acquired a great set of social skills which came in handy as I applied for a degree apprenticeship with the police.

I didn’t make it through the application process with the police, but I wasn’t deterred, and I’ve since been given the opportunity to work with the Foundation full time. Thanks to this, I’m now in a position where I’m learning a whole new set of skills including time management, project organisation and public speaking, all of which are putting me in good stead to get exactly where I want to be in the future.

Bookings for this summer’s NCS experience are filling up, so to get involved and to secure your place check out the NCS website here.