Business leaders support Charity model as example of ‘Big Society’ in action
7/19/2010
Business leaders across the North West are lending their support to a pioneering youth charity, hailed as a best practice example of ‘the Big Society' in action.
North West charity OnSide has developed a model which brings together community volunteers, residents, business leaders and local authorities to provide leisure, mentoring, career and social activities in a state-of-the-art facility funded by private-public partnership. The model has already been proved by the highly successful Bolton Lads & Girls Club, which is currently the biggest and most popular young people's club in the UK, with more than 3,000 visits per week. Now business leaders are rallying to the call for support to create a similar Youth Zone in their own cities, right across the region.
Entrepreneur Bill Holroyd, founder of Holroyd Meek and Chairman of OnSide, believes that this approach could provide the Government with a showcase for the concept of ‘the Big Society' and provide the next generation of entrepreneurs with new enthusiasm and hope for the future.
He said: "We all owe a duty of care to our young people, many of whom have felt disenfranchised by a lack of support and opportunity. The new coalition Government has localism and grass-roots activism at the heart of its vision for the future and we believe that the new Youth Zones will provide a clear, practical and proven example of this work in practice."
OnSide is already on the march, with capital funding secured for no fewer than five new clubs across the North West. Work is currently underway on purpose-built facilities in Blackburn and Carlisle, while Oldham, Harpurhey and Wigan are set to come online from 2011.
Based on the model developed for the Bolton Lads & Girls Club, each Youth Zone has its own business-led Board, management team and volunteer workforce. Funding is provided by a combination of local authority and government grants and support from philanthropic local businesses, with initial seed capital raised via a fund-raising drive spearheaded by the great and the good.
The charity has already drawn high-profile support from bosses of some of the North West's leading firms across the property, construction, manufacturing, retail and professional services sectors. Each individual has made a practical or financial commitment, in addition to donating their time and energy to ‘spreading the word' as a means of helping communities set up similar Youth Zones in their local areas.
"Youth provision has been woefully inadequate in this country for a long time," adds Holroyd, "with little or no investment in decent facilities in many of our most deprived communities. Many well-intentioned projects have been ad hoc, unfocused and ultimately ineffective in engaging successfully with young people. We hear time and again from the young people that no one listens to them. All they are asking for is something to do, somewhere to go and someone to talk to, and they want to ‘own' and take pride in that space. That's entirely reasonable.
"We all have a duty of care to protect, develop and inspire our young people. They are the future - and we owe it to ourselves to shape that future by positive action now. It's a hugely rewarding initiative and we would urge businesses across the country to step up to the challenge and make it happen for their local communities, wherever they are."
Business leaders already actively involved with OnSide include: Martin Ainscough (Ainscough Group), Bill Ainscough (Langtree plc), Ian Currie (Zeus Capital), Nick Hopkinson (Mark Two), William Lees-Jones (J W Lees and Co.), Chris Oglesby (Bruntwood), Margaret Preston (Pets At Home), Jim Smith (Clear Marketing), William Stobart (Stobart Group), Norman Stoller (Seton Healthcare), Ross Warburton (Warburtons) and Dave Whelan (DW Sport).
ENDS
Editor's Note
OnSide is a youth charity set up to establish Youth Zones in communities across the UK. Founded in 2008, OnSide is the catalyst to replicating the success of the pioneering Bolton Lads and Girls Club, through the development of a proven business model. Based on a public/private partnership funding arrangement for both their capital and running costs, the Youth Zones are professionally managed and financed by a variety of different stakeholders, providing engagement and longevity. The split is roughly local authority (40%), private sector donations (25%), national Government grants (25%) and membership fees/local community fundraising (10%).
The immediate target of Five in Five is on course with capital costs secured for Youth Zones in Blackburn, Carlisle, Oldham, Harpurhey and Wigan. Longer term, the vision is for every community in the country to have its own Youth Zone.
For more information contact:
Deborah Garritty / Heather Butler@ Bell Pottinger North
dgarritty@bellpottingernorth.co.uk / hbutler@bellpottingernorth.co.uk
01625 506 411 / 435
