Happy birthday, Carlisle Youth Zone, 10 years old this month

The charity on Victoria Place is celebrating its first decade during which it has surely become the city's most popular centres for young people.

In pre-pandemic times it had attracted record numbers of young people with more than 3,200 members. Up to 1,500 attended in any given week to take part in activities from dodgeball to cooking to music. And, after a very difficult 14 months for everyone, there are signs of a return to normal with the Youth Zone reopening in April and resuming evening sessions.

Development co-ordinator Emma Rogerson is glad it's getting back to doing what it was created for.

"I've been here for about five years now. It's a special place and its mission is to support and develop the potential of any young person who comes through our doors," she said.

For more than a year, no young person was coming through its doors but the need for whatever help the Youth Zone could offer was never greater at a time when hundreds of youngsters mingling in one place was no longer possible "There's been a huge weight of responsibility on us to make sure that everything we do isn't just safe for our kids but safe for the whole city," said development manager Lynsey Buckle.

The Zone responded by moving online with thousands of hours of mentoring sessions and activities delivered virtually. But there was 'physical world' help as well such as support for a community group delivering food parcels. It meant, said Lynsey, that youth workers could stay in touch with those vulnerable children who they were most concerned about.

Emma added: "It makes me really proud to work alongside fantastic people where their passion and priority is to make sure young people come first. I think we've done remarkable considering the challenges."No-one foresaw the challenge of a global pandemic when businessman Brian Scowcroft had the idea more than a decade ago for the Youth Zone, inspired by the Bolton Lads and Girls Club. Government funds helped make that possible and it opened its doors in 2011.

Patron Support:
A 'family' of patrons are the bedrock of the Zone's funding model. More than half - 53 per cent - of its £682,000 income for the last financial year was from private benefactors.

It's a measure of how well regarded it had become in Carlisle that in the year before Covid the number of patrons had increased by more than 50 to the current 77. And it is always looking for more.

As a local business, we are proud to be a Gold Patron of the Youth Zone.

Carlisle Youth Zone in numbers:

3,221 members
4,269 free sessions/trips
227 young people went on off-site trips
28,429 visits from members to all clubs’ sessions/ holiday clubs
48 community groups used the Youth Zone 382 times
Total income: £682,024
Portion of income from private sector: 53%
77 patrons (private benefactors/funders)
Amount CYZ brings into city: £300,000
Cost to taxpayer: £0

(Figures from 2019-20 annual report)

If you would like to find out more about the Youth Zone or how you can get involved to support them, reach out to Lynsey Buckle or Emma Rogerson for an informal chat.