21ST CENTURY YOUTH PROVISION ... COMING TO WIRRAL
Did you know 66 % of young people spend the majority of their leisure time in their bedroom whilst a staggering 82 % of young people think that their local area offers very little for them to do outside of school ?*
It ’ s clear young people need help now more than ever before . Whether it ’ s a lack of ambition or qualifications , or negative behaviour and attitudes , the current childhood crisis is real and well documented .
Visited by over 3,000 young people every week , Bolton Lads and Girls Club ( BLGC ) is a state-of-the-art custom-built , modern youth club offering a wide range of sport , art and enterprise activities . Open 7 days a week , 52 weeks a year , BLGC is driven by a powerful combination of public , private and volunteer sector support .
In 2006 , serial entrepreneur , Bill Holroyd was approached by officials from BLGC to chair the Club ’ s Board . Bill willingly took on the role and realised very quickly that other towns and cities in the country would clearly benefit from a first class facility like Bolton . It was this vision that inspired Bill to develop the charity , OnSide Youth Zones and spearhead the development of the Youth Zone ‘ model ’ across the country .
OnSide was officially established in 2008 with one simple aim … to build a network of 21st Century Youth Clubs , giving young people , safe and inspiring places to go in their leisure time . They are designed to give young people aged 8 – 19 years old ( 25 for those with a disability ) somewhere to go , something to do and someone to talk to in their leisure time ; occupying their bodies and minds with fun activities , learning new skills and socialising in a safe , positive way .
Youth Zones promise to offer over 20 action-packed activities every evening from sports and arts to music , dance drama , employability and enterprise schemes – a Youth Zone is a childhood dream . Open 7 days a week , they are proven to reduce anti-social behaviour levels
in their areas of service as well as create hundreds of jobs . To be more specific , at least 50 full time jobs as well as 100 volunteers are recruited to make sure service provision is of the highest of standards .
So how are these world class facilities possibly funded in these times of asperity ? Youth Zones cost £ 6million to build with £ 3m and the site provided by the local authority and the remainder made up of grants , trusts and philanthropic giving . The annual running costs for a start-up Youth Zone are £ 1million ; 40 % met by local authority support , 50 % by the local private sector and 10 % through membership and entry fees from young people . OnSide works with the Youth Zone team to raise the first three years of private sector funding ahead of opening . This unique partnership of the private sector , local authority , young people and the community forms a dynamic four-way , inter-connecting relationship , which drives the sustainable success of an OnSide Youth Zone .
OnSide has since impacted on the lives of over 20,000 young people , opening six centres in Blackburn , Carlisle , Manchester ( The Factory ), Oldham ( Mahdlo ), Wigan and more recently Wolverhampton ( The Way ) – the Midlands first OnSide Youth Zone . The growing national charity also has numerous ‘ live ’ developments on the go with confirmed Youth Zone projects in various locations . Here in the North West ; Chorley , Preston and Warrington are set to have a Youth Zone in the coming years , whilst in the capital , Barking and Dagenham , Barnet and Croydon are to become London ’ s first OnSide centres come 2018 – the South is following the North – refreshing change !
And now we move on to Wirral which is set to have its first £ 6m youth facility come April 2017 when the doors officially open . Named by local young people as ‘ The Hive ’, Wirral Youth Zone is located in the centre of Birkenhead next to the fire station and construction is well underway with the project progressing rapidly . The superstructure is complete and main roof and windows have
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