A WIRRAL-based charity that works to improve the lives of young people has been awarded the use of a £20,000 mini bus by Vauxhall Motors.

The Youth Federation, which supports young people up to the age of 25 and youth groups in Wirral will use the 17-seat Movano mini bus to help transport young people who participate on the National Citizen Service (NCS) programme.

NCS is a Government programme available to young people across England and Northern Ireland aged 15 – 17. It aims to provide opportunities for young people to develop new skills, meet new people and make a difference to their local community.

Employees from Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port plants nominated youth charities within their geographical area who are then judged on the number of people they help each year and the service they provide.

Vauxhall awarded this loan to the Youth Federation due to the large number of young people the charity supports each year. This year, 167 young people from Wirral have taken part in the NCS through Youth Federation.

Phil Millward, director of HR at Vauxhall Motors said: "Vauxhall Motors is committed to supporting young people who reside in Bedfordshire and Cheshire where our plants are located.

"We select charities which support large numbers of young people and the Youth Federation met this criteria.

"The Vauxhall Movano will be used to transport young people in Wirral, Cheshire West, Cheshire East, Halton and St Helens."

Chris Hindley, CEO of Youth Federation said: "Youth Federation has been delivering the NCS project since 2011 and since this time 1907 young people have participated on the programme and have supported over 74 charities & organisations across the region.

"We are delighted that Vauxhall Motors has recognised the value of the Youth Federation and NCS and we are extremely grateful to all the employees at the Ellesmere Port plant for nominating our charity."