YOUNG people in Cheshire East will benefit from the use of a £20,000 minibus donated by Vauxhall Motors.

The Youth Federation, which supports young people up to the age of 25, 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 to 17. The ethos of the programme is to provide opportunities for young people to develop new skills, meet new people and make a difference to their community.

In 2014 143 young people from Cheshire East have participated on NCS through Youth Federation.

Vauxhall Motors runs a grace and favour fleet which benefits youth-related charities through long and short term loans.

Employees from Vauxhall’s Luton and Ellesmere Port plants nominate youth charities in their geographical area, which are judged on the number of people they help each year and the service they provide.

Vauxhall awarded the loan to the Youth Federation due to the large number of young people the charity supports each year.

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.

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

The Youth Federation runs programmes across Cheshire, Halton, Warrington and Wirral, working with 5,000 young people annually.

It also provides support to youth organisations that reach more than 50,000 young people each year.

Chris Hindley, CEO of Youth Federation said: “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.”