Two moths ago, 22 NCS graduates at Bolton Lads and Girls club were trained as Young Advisors.

The group are currently working alongside a small charity called Refugee Welcome Trust. They met with Amy who started the charity to discuss what the charity is all about, and ways in which the Young Advisors could get involved. The Refugee Welcome Trust provides assistance for refugees to allow them to establish their life in the UK and also provides support with aspects of family reunion to speed up the process and make it less stressful for the families involved.

The Young Advisors are currently in the process of starting a campaign to raise awareness of the Refugee Welcome Trust and hopefully raise some funds to help move the charity forward in reuniting families that have been broken up.

The Young Advisors have already had a great response to the work with this charity and have looked at a number of options to meet with other organisations and charities to discuss ways that they can help.

Bolton Young Advisors are also currently working with a number of agencies from across Greater Manchester on a project to raise awareness about World Mental Health day, and planning an event to take place on October 13th. They have been attending meetings at Salford University to discuss options on how to build up to the big event. These plans are ongoing and they have another meeting scheduled early April in which the various groups involved will be bringing forward ideas and ways to move forward. We hope this event is a great success!

Bolton Lads and Girls Club have a huge Oxfam and YMCA led event coming up on 22nd March, which will involve young people from all over the country. Six of their Young Advisors have been asked to develop a workshop on an aspect of their NCS programme they felt inspired by. They will be required to deliver a 50 minute programme to young people aged 15 – 20 that is interactive and exciting to get their message across. The young people have had several planning meetings and developed some great ideas to deliver a programme on how to campaign and make a difference: Where To Start, What To Do and How To Do It.

Philip Crandle from Bolton Lads and Girls Club said: :The Young Advisors are particularly excited about this event and are using the Young Advisors training they have had to put their skills into action. We will continue to promote the good work the young people are doing, and advise and guide them into other opportunities in the near future".

... All this only two months after training, good job Bolton Young Advisors!