Need Social Action Inspo? Take A Look At These…

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NCS experiences are taking place all over the country right now, and a huge part of your experience is designing and delivering a social action project. If you’re looking for some inspiration, and want to do something a little different, then look no further. Here are some of our favourite, not so average, social action ideas!

PAINT JAM

If you’re a particularly creative crew, this might just be the way to go. Street art, and live painting is really popular, so why not raise some funds or awareness for a charity by holding a paint jam. This is a pop up event where you, as artists, have full creative licence and give people a show. Get some cheap canvases, or big pads of paper, and set up a paint station. Invite the local community to come and watch you paint live - you could even draw caricatures of audience members! - and then auction off the paintings at the end of the day for your cause. Whilst people are watching you can hold conversations about your cause and explain what you’re doing and why. You could even see if any local business would want to sponsor you, or get involved with handing out refreshments or food.

INSERT-YOUR-PASSION-HERE-A-THON!

A fun way to raise funds for your cause is to do a marathon of sorts. From gameathons to danceathons, the world is your oyster. Just pick your passion, set a time limit, and get to work! Maybe you think you can bounce on a space hopper for ten hours. Maybe you can play Monopoly for 12 hours. Maybe you can kick footballs into a goal for six hours straight. Whatever it is, get people to sponsor you for a good cause!

CLOTHING SWAP

This is a great idea to be a bit more sustainable and do something for a good cause. Get everyone in your team to bring in old clothes that they don’t want any more. Set them up on tables or clothing racks and let everyone swap an item of their own clothing for a ‘new’ piece of someone else's. You could even advertise this to the public and get them involved too! At the end of the day the leftover clothes can be given to charity shops, shelters, or other organisations that take donations. 

CREATE A MINI CARNIVAL

Have a bit of fun for a social cause and set up a mini carnival in your community! Set up different games and stalls and invite people to take part and donate what they can for your chosen cause. You could do classic games like:
Hook-a-duck -fill a paddling pool with water and get some ducks with eyelets attached. Write a number on the bottom of the duck, which will match up to a prize, give participants a hook on a stick and see if they can catch one!
Guess The Sweets - fill a jar to the top with sweets and get people to guess the exact number of sweets inside. Charge a small amount per guess, and at the end of the day the winner gets to keep the jar!
Face Paint Station - If there’s someone artistic in your team, put their creativity to work by offering face painting. To keep it simple, decide on three or four different styles that people can pick from and get through as many faces as you can!
Coconut Shy - a classic carnival game! Put a few coconuts on the top of sticks and see if people can hit them off with a tennis ball. 

GET CLUBBING

Why not organise and start your own club or community organisation for a cause you’re passionate about. Set objectives, goals, and even club events that can carry on after your NCS experience, and get people to join and make a difference where you live. This could be something like organising a weekly litter-picking team or getting in touch with organisations to offer educational sessions on local issues. 

Whatever you do for your social action project you should be proud that you’re helping your community and making a positive impact where you live! Don’t forget to let us know what you’re up to by tagging us on social media at @NCS and entering our #LifeOnNCS competition to be in with the chance of winning a Panasonic Lumix G100 camera!