Summer of a Lifetime

Summer of a Lifetime

Summer of a Lifetime was an exciting pilot project delivered by Bradford Youth Service in partnership with V and the Dame Kelly Holmes Legacy Trust (DKLT). Young people from year 11’s from across the Bradford District were invited to take part as part of the national pilot of the Government’s National Citizen Service programme.

It is a prestigious, fun, challenging and adventurous project, which has given young people the opportunity to improve skills such as team work, problem solving, leadership and communication. They have been able to improve their employment prospects by gaining new experiences, networking with others and enriching their CV’s.

The group of 60 young people were put into four teams, and supported by youth workers, and sports ambassadors from the DKLT, they participated in a programme of five phases –

Phase one - The initial stage was recruitment and induction of young people from across Bradford and the district. Linking into schools, the youth service, partner agencies, referrals and the internet a diverse group of young people were recruited to participate.

Phase two – First residential was held in the Lake District, and in the Yorkshire Dales, with a week long action packed programme, designed to empower the individual young people to work together and become team players.

Phase three – The second residential was at Blackhills campsite in Bingley, and Greenwood Centre – Swaine House. Here the young people were encouraged to start to think about their social action projects, and to identify how they could make a difference to their communities.

Phase four – the young people used this phase to become more focused on the issues that faced particular areas in Bradford and how they could help tackle them. This in turn helped develop their friendships further and they worked on fine tuning their social action projects by cementing their ideas and project planning. The young people contacted businesses and did some fundraising. They worked with the ambassadors from the DKLT who acted as inspirational leaders and helped them fulfil their goals

Phase five – the young people put their plans into action and delivered the projects. A diverse range of social action projects had emerged from the groups planning. These included:

• Environmental restoration work of the canal and sidewalks at Bingley’s Five Rise Locks;
• An awareness campaign around gun, knife and drug crime, with the formation of a youth group called Safezone;
• Raising awareness about homelessness and fundraising for the Bradford Metropolitan Food Bank;
• Organising five health-based events, working with five -13-year-olds to promote healthier lifestyles and exercise.

Young people’s comments about the Summer of a Lifetime were:

Dermot Gascoigne, former international heavyweight boxer and DKLT ambassador said he felt proud of how far the young people had come, saying “ People have to make difficult choices and ones which they really don’t want to have to make but they do it anyway. Doing it to help others and improve society is very rewarding”. He finished by saying that it was a pleasure to work with Bradford Youth Service and its young people.

These young people not only had the chance and took it to take part in the Summer of a Lifetime but also gained skills, made lasting friendships and became ambassadors themselves for young people in the district. What they have achieved has been outstanding and their volunteering has made a real difference not just in their lives but the communities they have volunteered in.