Foreign

Former British PM David Cameron unveils new job

October 13, 2016

176

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron waits to greet his Slovenian counterpart Miro Cerar at Number 10 Downing Street in London, Britain November 19, 2015. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

Former British Prime Minister David Cameron has announced that he will be leading an expansion of the National Citizen Service (NCS) for teenagers which he set up during his tenure as premier.

“Overall, the NCS is a fantastic example of the positive and inspirational role young people can play in our modern, vibrant society. It is the Big Society in action,” Cameron said in a Facebook post.

The NCS aims to prepare teenagers for work through team-building activities and community projects. Cameron will be chairman of NCS Patrons, aiming to make the course “a normal part of growing up”, reported the BBC.

Having resigned as prime minister in the aftermath of Brexit, Cameron also quit his parliamentary seat last month.

In an article written for the Daily Telegraph, the ex-UK PM said setting up the NCS was one of his proudest achievements, with more than 275,000 having taken part. He said it was “building bridges across social divides”, creating lifelong friendships between teenagers and “building the soft skills, the resilience, the self-confidence and the creativity that can help them get on in life”.

Cameron said his new role would involve “bringing together a senior cross-party and cross-sector group of patrons and ambassadors who can help NCS to reach more youngsters”. “By bringing together expertise from every part of society we can embed NCS in our national fabric,” he said, adding that he hoped to “make it a reality for generations to come”.

The former PM said he was “delighted” that his successor, Theresa May, was pressing ahead with a National Citizen Service Bill, which would put the NCS on a permanent legal footing. “But making NCS a rite of passage requires more than political leadership,” he added. “It requires leadership from every part of society.”