David Ruffley welcomes the announcement that the National Citizen Service will be running once again in Bury St Edmunds with Catch 22, the young people's skills charity.

David Ruffley said: 'The programme will provide a fantastic experience for 16 year old students.

National Citizen Service starts with a fortnight staying away from home, when participants take part in a packed schedule of adventure and personal development activities. This is followed by a three to four weeks community element, allowing the teenagers to develop social action projects to benefit their area. In all, National Citizen Service participants will spend nearly three quarters of a million hours on social action projects in local communities across England this summer.

I am keen that as many people as possible in my constituency know about the programme so teenagers from a wide variety of backgrounds get to mix together. National Citizen Service is mainly free and all providers offer financial assistance to participants to keep access open.

This year places will be available for up to 30,000 young people from across the country but it is the Prime Minister's ambition that in the future every teenager will have the opportunity to take part as a rite of passage into adulthood.

Over 8,400 teenagers participated in last year's pilots. The largest provider reported that 96% of participants felt more confident and 86% more responsible for making a difference to their local area. 9 out of 10 parents of participants would recommend the programme to others.

This is a great opportunity for 16 year olds which I am keen to encourage young people to take up.'

ENDS

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