HIGH-FLIERS MP Nick Boles and Education Department director Anne Jackson applauded 100 pioneering teenagers, who are among the first in the UK to take part in a groundbreaking scheme.

Mr Boles, the Member for Stamford and Grantham, and Mrs Jackson - Supporting Children & Young People Group Director, were impressed by those taking part in a National Citizen Service (NCS) programme - part of The Big Society initiative.

They watched teenagers tackling a wide range of teambuilding challenges at PGL, an adventure centre at Caythorpe Court, Caythorpe, during the first week of their NCS programme. 

Lincolnshire & Rutland EBP chief executive Elaine Lilley, whose team is running  one of 12 NCS pilots in the UK welcomed Mr Boles, who threw himself into the spirit of things, joining young people climbing Jacob's Ladder, while Mrs Jackson tried her hand in the shooting gallery. 

Both also took time to talk to the NCS participants, all of which are at least 16-years-old and live in Lincoln or in East Coast towns and villages. 

Mr Boles was part of the committee which organised The Challenge, the original 

NCS test pilot. He said the four-week programme being run by the Lincolnshire & Rutland EBP is one of the most successful and he hopes the organisation will 

win the chance to run more next year.

"The point of the challenge (adventure activities) is to show young people 

that the best way to overcome their fears is to work with other people. It's a good

message for life and society," said Mr Boles. 

Following their adventure training, NCS participants are spending a week at 

the University of Lincoln and Linkage Trust (Spilsby) campuses, to get a taste

of life, learning and living independently.

During weeks three and four of the programme, they will spend a total of 30

hours working on a range of community projects, designed to make a real 

difference to people in the areas where they live.

Mrs Jackson said: "It has been wonderful to see young people having such a 

good time here (Caythorpe Court). I have chatted to many of them and they are 

obviously learning a lot together and also looking forward to doing the social 

action projects in their areas.

NCS participant Melissa Poole (16) from Lincoln said: "The first week's been 

great fun. I've met new friends, learned about communication and teamwork

and tried activities which I've never done before 

"I applied to do the NCS programme because I thought it would be fun, give me 

the chance to learn new skills and also because I thought it would be good for my CV."

EBP chief executive Elaine Lilley added: "We were delighted to show Mr

Boles and Mrs Jackson how enthusiastic our young people are about the 

NCS programme.

"We know that everyone taking part will make a big difference in their

communities and also learn valuable transferable skills for their futures."