Sarish Saghir and Sukhpreet Shergill were chosen from more than 40,000 young people across the UK to be ambassadors for the National Citizen Service. They were recruited for their altruistic actions in caring for the homeless.
Sixteen-year old Sarish from Girlington called her community project 'Hope for the Homeless'. This involved preparing hampers full of essentials, including clean clothes and toiletries, about 100 of which were distributed in a soup kitchen at St Pio Friary in Bradford. Unsurprisingly Sarish and her team have now raised another £2,000 to continue with the enterprise: "I still get recognised by some of the homeless people from the project and they thank me and ask for more items" she said in an interview given in Telegraph and Argus. “We hope to create more hampers and have them ready to hand out just before Christmas, hopefully not only making homeless people smile, but making sure they stay warm and healthy throughout the winter.”
Recently turned eighteen Sukhpreet of Bolton Woods also distributed packages chocked full of bare necessities, but took his project to a homeless shelter: “"It was an amazing experience," he beamed. "The people we helped were so grateful, and you could tell we were doing a great deed as everyone was so polite despite all they have been through.”
Ellie Julings, a local delivery partner for NCS, said the duo were stellar role models for Bradford: “Sarish and Sukhpreet thoroughly deserve this recognition - Sarish for her energy and passion for social action and Sukhpreet for his ability to inspire and encourage others.” As Sukhpreet stated, “everyone should apply for NCS as it is a once-in-a-lifetime chance." Sarish also commented: “My confidence has grown, I’m more comfortable to give my opinion, take part, and help prove the traditional stereotypes of teenagers wrong."
