Helen Harris

Opened in Spring 2022 Warrington Youth Zone is the new home and evolution of Warrington Youth Club (WYC).  WYC was formed in 1930 by a group of parents who were concerned that their children were getting into trouble after school. Over the following five years the group developed into Warrington Boys Club. Warrington Youth Club, a well-established charity delivered an open access Youth Club four nights a week at The Peace Centre, a satellite gym 7 days a week in Warrington Town Centre as well as a wide range of successful targeted projects including mentoring, employability, and National Citizenship Service (NCS).

In 2008, the Board of WYC, recognising the need for WYC to modernise and evolve and find more permanent locations for its services (currently scattered over multiple locations), began working closely with OnSide and Warrington Borough Council to explore the potential for a new Youth Zone, a central facility within Warrington which will allow the youth offer to be extended to 7 days each week and attract young people from across Warrington. Whilst providing a base for the many successful and changing targeted projects Warrington Youth Club deliver to local young people. Warrington Youth Club/Zone is part of the OnSide Network.

Warrington has a population of 210,000 people, 32,000 of whom fall within the target age for a Youth Zone (7 – 19 or up to 25 for those with a disability or vulnerability). There is currently no universal youth provision for young people in Warrington available 365 days a year and Warrington Youth Club is the largest children and young people’s organisation in the town with over 4000 members.

Warrington Youth Club has a long history in helping young people in this area and is well networked into the Voluntary, Statutory, Faith and Private sectors across the Borough. The multi-agency links that Warrington Youth Club has developed will ensure that the new Youth Zone is accessible to a broad range of groups who support children and young people across Warrington.

Warrington Youth Zone is dedicated to young people and makes a bold statement about the importance of giving young people high quality places to go in their leisure time. Open 7 days a week including school holidays, the Youth Zone’s purpose is to help young people grow to be happy, healthy and successful adults.

The state-of-the-art £7.05 million building provides young people with facilities that are second to none delivering over 20 sporting, artistic, cultural and general recreational activities each session.  Offering young people the opportunity to try new things, meet new friends and gain support from friendly, warm and positive staff and volunteers.

With every workout or kickabout, every mock interview or muck around with mates, young people develop the resilience to face challenges and the skills to solve problems. They find confidence to aim high and the determination to become who they want to be. They build positive relationships based on being given the space to talk, an understanding of their own self-worth, and a sense of belonging to something bigger. That is why Warrington Youth Zone isn’t just be a place to go – but a place to grow.   That is the power of exceptional youth work.