Our Young Advisors

I was involved in 2 FF programmes; NCS Leaders 2012 and McKinsey and Co Leadership Programme 2013.

I was nominated to take part in NCS Leaders from participating in The Challenge. Honestly, I had no idea what it was going to be but I can’t turn down a good opportunity.

I think my experiences on the programme have made me much more confident in situations with new people. However, more than anything the programme really made me see how I have a responsibility, and the possibility, to help in my community.

The McKinsey Leadership Academy 2012 was advertised through my school, and stated that it was aimed at potential future leaders which really interested me. After looking into it further I applied because I thought the project would be an incredible opportunity to meet like-minded people, learn about the McKinsey world of business, and to help develop me as a person providing me with new ideas and skills to use in life.

The academy taught me that you really can do anything if you put your mind to it and use the available resources. I learnt how to problem solve efficiently using the McKinsey problem trees. I learnt that a successful leader will take risks in order to try and improve a situation and that it is absolutely fine to be completely unconventional in the way that you do things. I learnt that it is important to be a role model to others, and that you do not have to be a super hero to be one: you just have to be positive in what you do and that if you want to make a difference to a situation, you really can if you are proactive.

My highlight would be the reunion academy a year later! It was brilliant to get to speak to so many inspirational people, but a moment that stands out for me was when all of the girls were sat around one of the leaders working for Future Foundations in our pyjamas with hot chocolates listening to her experiences and how she had done so many amazing things at such a young age:  I remember all of us looking at one another thinking “wow! I want to do things like that!

NCS Summer looked like a killer opportunity to develop my own skills while also helping others in the community and meeting new people at the same time, what’s not to like?! So I thought I’d grab this chance with both hands and see what happened…

I learned how to lead a team, work in a team and express my ideas clearly. I also gained a whole new set of practical skills like letter writing, budget keeping and PR management to name a few!

My FF highlight has to be the team challenges in NCS Week 1, it was amazing to watch our team pull together despite having known each other for just 4 days to achieve an overall victory! The classic FF games like toxic dump and human bingo were great for team morale and really gave us the sense of becoming a team, we all came away from the challenges with big ambitions for what we could achieve together.

I joined NCS Summer 2013 as I had nothing to do with my summer and wanted something productive that would enhance my CV while getting to meet new people.

The skills I learnt were things like working in a team, agreeing in a team (!), overcoming setbacks quickly and effectively, communicating as a group both online and in physical meetings, efficient planning….the list goes on!

My highlight has to be a massive inter-region tournament between Bath and Nottingham on the final night!

I decided to do National Citizen Service as I wanted to try something new during my summer holidays and to meet some new people.

I learnt how to work effectively in teams, leadership skills, communication skills, and most importantly… how to build a raft

My highlight was meeting the most amazing people that I now call my dearest friends.

The opportunity to meet new people, to develop leadership and team work skills and more importantly to learn how to make a positive difference in my community was the reason I chose to be involved in the National Citizen Service Programme.

Ultimately I learnt how to be a better leader and furthermore how I can change negative stereotypes of young people and actually do something positive in my community to make a change that I want to see.

The highlight was for me meeting lots of amazing people who I still have contact with today and also having access to amazing training and having access to learn skills and qualities that will have an impact on anything that I do in the future.

I joined the National Citizen Service to have the opportunity to meet different people from around the country. NCS Leaders helped me to carry on my NCS journey and see where it would take me.

What I have learnt while on the NCS Leadership Programme 2012. Firstly, how to mix with different people from different backgrounds secondly having confidence to stand up for something I believe in, making a difference – even if it’s as simple as bringing some joy to others

Being able to have the confidence to go back in my community and start up my own social action project was the highlight for me.

I saw the National Citizen Service as a valuable opportunity to develop myself and contribute to my community through a social action project.

I felt that after taking part on the NCS programme, my communication and team working skills improved vastly.

My highlight was planning our social action project, and the journey that we went on as a team to achieve our final outcome.

As a young person, I feel that I can make an impact on the world because I see it from a different perspective. I would love the chance to make a difference to someone’s life, therefore a continued relationship with Future Foundations would help me to achieve  this by giving me the opportunity to do this.  I cannot pretend that my reasons for choosing to do this are wholly selfless, as I am unsure whether or not I would like to continue with further education, I believe that this program will provide valuable experience in not only the world of work, but with life.

I wanted to help make something that’s good, great and felt that I would achieve this through the National Citizen Service Leaders Programme.

Skills that I learnt – so so much, it’s definitely been one of those life changing moments.

My highlight was meeting other young people who could see the big pictures and ponder the big questions.

I would like to see the ideas of current young people turn into actions. Essentially, these decisions and ideas could affect the current and following generations. This will be a great opportunities to enhance and develop my skills in various fields, and gaining new experiences that will help me with things I do in the future. Most importantly, to meet others who are determined to bring changes, work together with them and share ideas.