ECT partners with community programme to help youngsters make a difference
One of the key aims of ECT Charity is to enable other charities to fulfill their own objectives.
In London, Ealing Community Transport (ECT), which is part of ECT Charity, has recently been involved with the work of NCS with The Challenge, a national, government-funded programme run as part of the government’s National Citizen Service (NCS).
The Challenge programme aims to inspire young people aged 16-17 to strengthen their communities through volunteering and fundraising, with a focus on bringing together people from across generations, ethnic groups and incomes.
Young people involved with NCS with The Challenge go through three weeks of training which culminates in four days of volunteering within various community and charitable organisations.
NCS with The Challenge used ECT’s transport services throughout last summer. More recently, the organisation worked with ECT to transport various teams of participants to local charities in order to volunteer their time as part of the culmination of the programme. The volunteering included a wonderful range of activities, such as collecting for the Girl Guides, distributing Christmas cards to older people and putting on tea parties in residential care homes.
Using mainly national contractors, this was the first time that NCS with The Challenge had worked with local community transport suppliers. Their feedback made ECT particularly proud.
Dave King, Programme Manager at NCS with The Challenge, said: “ECT have been so helpful and supportive of the young people and what they do. The drivers and the team have shown a real interest, are reliable, on time and always prepared. If there were ever any last minute issues, the ECT team would always accommodate.”
Dave continued: “The professionalism of the ECT team meant that we could focus on programme work and spend more time with the service users. We were able to go anywhere within the borough, which meant that we were not restricted by bus routes and could visit a broader range of charities and community organisations. I honestly cannot speak highly enough of them. It really is a pleasure to work with the team and I want to thank them for their support.”
Anna Whitty, CEO of ECT Charity, said: “We are very keen to show how young people benefit from our transport services and this story is wonderful to see as it involves connecting generations for social good. We aim to engage with more and more youth services in the future and it has been an honour to be involved in such inspiring work.”
Anna added: “This is a fantastic example of how high quality community transport at affordable prices can make important projects like this viable to operate. It is also great to have been working with a fellow charity working towards a common goal. ECT would love to see more of these kinds of partnerships happening in the future.”
