Details
Our NCS Programme
We bring together young people from across a community and challenge them to connect with people from different backgrounds, learn key skills for the workplace, and make a difference in their community. They achieve this by completing three challenges:
• NCS Personal Challenge (PC): Between four and seven socially mixed teams of young people bond through a week of challenging outdoor activities.
• NCS Team Challenge (TC): Teams return home and use their skills to experience serving the local community.
• NCS Real Challenge: Teams work to design and organise activities that will bring the local community together. The NCS Real Challenge Design (RCD) is the third part of the summer programme takes place along with NCS Real Challenge Action (RCA) where the young people actually deliver their social action project.
All young people who complete our NCS programme graduate and are signposted into year-round volunteering, membership and social action opportunities through The Challenge Society.
About the Opportunity
A single programme lasts around 18 days and includes outdoor activities, skill development and community service. Senior Mentors can take part in one programme over the summer.
The Senior Mentor will:
• Lead, inspire and pastorally care for a team of twelve participants, ensuring their safety and assisting their personal development through three weeks of intense activities
• Work alongside other members of staff to ensure that all the young people in your team are engaged and fully participating in all activities
• Work with the support of the Assistant Programme Leader to deal with challenging behaviour and additional needs from young people
• Live residentially during the NCS Personal and Team Challenge
All meals and accommodation are provided during the NCS Personal Challenge and Team Challenge. No meals are provided during the NCS Real Challenge. The accommodation during the Personal Challenge is generally in an outdoor activity centre and during Team Challenge is generally at a university campus; however, in some areas and during some parts of the programme, accommodation is at a campsite.
Person Specification
Candidates must demonstrate the following skills and characteristics:
Essential:
• Ability to motivate and earn respect of a group of twelve young people
• Belief in young people and in helping them take more active roles in their communities
• Experience of working in a fast-paced and demanding environment
Beneficial:
• Experience working directly with groups of young people aged 14-19
• Experience of working in a residential youth environment
• Experience working in partnership with schools, youth or community organisations
We also look for all employees to show the following characteristics:
• Trust-building: Works hard to build trust with people. Brings people together in the community
• Responsibility-taking: Takes responsibility for actions and attitudes. Claims and solves problems in the community
• Understanding and Empathy: Works to understand others – their strengths, fears and needs. Ready to stand up for someone who is different from themselves
Requirement
All staff who work on our NCS programme must have prior to starting work a returned satisfactory enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) dated since 31 January 2015 and two satisfactory references regarding their suitability to work with young people. The Challenge will assist the application for, and pay for the processing of, a new DBS for staff members where required.
Location: Greater London, Surrey, Buckingham and Berkshire, Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, West Midlands
Visit our website to have a look at the various roles and fill in an application form: http://www.ncsthechallenge.org/jobs/