Young people make a difference in Belle Isle and Middleton

It is always fantastic when young people want to help in communities like Belle Isle and Middleton. The National Citizens Service (NCS) is a great way of volunteering and building on skills that are needed in the world of work. Team Edwards also expressed their wish to help with the environment through tree planting.

It was great to work with them as a Trustee of Friends of Middleton Park as different cohorts volunteer every year and help in the park, but they desperately wanted to leave a legacy so planted two trees on Middleton Circus. They designed t-shirts with trees on and one dressed up as a tree much to the delight of the children in Middleton Park. I think we can all help with the environment by making different choices – it’s about everyone making small changes too and that was something that really came through from these young people.

Planting the trees at Middleton Circus

I also liked the fact that they decided to focus on old-fashioned street games that cost nothing and kept youngsters occupied for over 3 hours. It was an absolute pleasure to see children playing together and enjoying fresh air, of course the weather was very good.

So Thank you Team Edwards you came to our community left a legacy and were a credit to your families and the National Citizens Scheme.

NCS volunteer Matthew commented:

“I chose to go with the tree planting and children fun activities such as a football game and tig as they are things that we believe are very important in bringing the community together. Tree planting helps to raise awareness of the impact of climate change and strategies such as recycling to reduce the impact of climate change.

“Additionally because trees take in carbon dioxide and produce oxygen which makes the air cleaner and reduces blood pressure. The children’s fun activities helps us to connect better with the future generations as well as helping them to become more active and have a better lifestyle.

“The tree planting that we did in Middleton was not just beneficial for our social action with NCS, but also beneficial for the environment. One of our main goals for our social action was to be as eco-friendly as possible, so that we can give back to the community and help some of the environmental issues in the area.  Our campaign would also give us the opportunity to tell others about the issues and make people more aware of the help that they can give.

“In Middleton Park, we held a small activity session to engage younger people to play games and have fun, successfully bring the community together.”

 

This post was written by Cllr Kim Groves

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