Henry Smith MP has welcomed the Leader of the House of Commons, Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP, to West Sussex, to take him to the Checkatrade.com Stadium to meet with young people undertaking National Citizen Service, and staff of the Crawley Town Community Foundation who are organising the scheme locally.
Henry said;
“I was pleased to show the Leader of the House of Commons some of the great local projects organised by the Crawley Town Community Foundation.
“This year’s Spring Programme is their second National Citizen Service scheme, and the initiative goes from strength to strength.
“Community awareness is a vital part of their work, and I’m pleased that their social action project includes supporting Crawley Open House.
“As a sign of how the Community Foundation is expanding, while we were in Crawley, the CTFC Kicks team were taking part in the Premier League Kicks Cup in Nottingham!”
As part of the National Citizen Service Spring Programme, the Community Foundation are organising a Fun Day at the Checkatrade.com Stadium on Saturday 23rd April, ahead of Crawley Town’s home game against Carlisle United at 3pm, to raise money for Crawley Open House.
Birtug Kazim, Manager of the Crawley Town Community Foundation, commented;
“It was a real pleasure to have the Leader of the House of Commons, Chris Grayling, Henry Smith MP, and fellow Conservative delegates visit Crawley Town today. We were really proud to hear Chris’ comments of how well a Football League 2 Club is achieving with the Foundation’s Community programme in comparison to other Clubs he has visited, and in particular with the National Citizen Service (NCS) Programme.
“It is a testament to the staff here, as well as the NCS young people who are working incredibly hard to raise awareness and fundraise for their chosen charity Crawley Open House, which provides support and services for those suffering the effects of homelessness, unemployment, loneliness, discrimination, or other forms of social exclusion.
“We would like to extend our invitation to the public Fun Day and fundraiser taking place at the Checkatrade.com Stadium, home of Crawley Town FC, between 10am to 3pm on Saturday 23rd April 2016.”
Earlier this year the Prime Minister announced the Government was strengthening its commitment to NCS. More than £1 billion will go towards NCS over the next four years, ensuring that by 2021 it will cover 60 per cent of all 16 year olds.
It will be the largest programme of its kind in Europe. Schools will be expected to provide each student with the opportunity to take part, and tie NCS into the curriculum.
Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP, Leader of the House of Commons, added;
“I was delighted to meet some of the young people taking part in National Citizen Service here in Crawley.
“I know that Henry Smith MP has been a local champion of the NCS programme, organised by the Crawley Town Community Foundation.
“It was a pleasure to come back to Crawley and meet the young people currently working on their social action project, and to listen to the Community Foundation’s hardworking staff who make these activities possible.”