City Year is a National Youth Service programme that engages a diverse group of youth in a year of voluntary service and leadership development. The programme is made up of three key parts: Service, Training and Exit Opportunities.

Young people work in teams of 10 to 15 in various schools around Johannesburg facilitating After School Programmes.

HISTORY OF CITY YEAR SOUTH AFRICA

City Year South Africa is a National Youth Service Programme that engages a diverse group of youth in a year of voluntary community service and leadership development. Since its inception in 2005 the organisation has retained the City Year model, but has made a number of adaptations to ensure that the programme is South African and addresses local development needs.  To qualify and register with the National Youth Service Unit, City Year South Africa incorporated formal, accredited training and is committed to channelling its graduates towards exit opportunities such as formal employment, learnerships, or bursaries for further study.

In 2005, City Year South African volunteers ran after school programmes focusing on supporting learners in Grades 5 to 7 with maths, science and technology education, as well as life orientation through sport and culture. City Year partnered with eight schools, each assigned a team consisting of 10 to 12 Service Leaders (volunteers) and one Team Leader.  After School Programmes ran four days a week for an average of 200 learners per team . City Year also ran two Community Impact Teams, partnered with Community Based Organisations.
        
Subsequently, City Year has refined its After School Programme to focus on literacy, life orientation and positive school climate with learners in grades 4 to 7, in 16 primary schools around Johannesburg, with 200 full-time Service Leaders.  In addition to the work Service Leaders are doing in primary schools, they also conduct needs assessments in the surrounding communities and develop outreach programmes to address those needs according to the capacity of the teams.  

The idea of City Year was introduced to South Africa through the association of former presidents Nelson Mandela and Bill Clinton.  Hosting a conference on Civil Society in Cape Town in 2001, Mandela extended an invitation to Clinton, who accepted and brought along a delegation from the US, which included representatives from City Year US.    It was after this conference that dialogue started about a possible City Year in South Africa.     

Following initial discussions, City Year spent a period of time researching and connecting with relevant stakeholders in South Africa, including the City of Johannesburg, the National Youth Commission, the Umsobomvu Youth Fund, the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) and the Department of Labour.  

Since then, City Year South Africa has graduated over four hundred and seventy young people and has a continued affiliation with City Year Inc in the United States.

THE CITY YEAR UNIFORM
City Year volunteers wear a uniform to create a sense of continuity in the primary schools we work in, even though the individuals volunteering differ from year to year. Children will often say "Hello City Year" to the Service Leaders and staff, addressing the uniform. The uniform also helps unite the diverse young people in the programme by eliminating the importance of clothing and forcing people to address each other as individuals.