West London Zone and Onside Youth Centres

By Farial Missi – Link Worker Manager

West London Zone has been collaborating with OnSide Youth Zone, a charity that gives young people 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. Young people aged 14 and 15  from our programme at Phoenix Academy have been helping them shape their new project in Hammersmith & Fulham, attending regular meetings across 3 weeks to help shape a brand new Onside Youth Zone.

The programme initiated with consultation sessions at Hammersmith Town Hall. The consultation sessions included a presentation on the building and development of the new youth zone in White City and activities to get the young people to start thinking about what they want in their youth zone and it’s branding.

They then went on a day trip to Wigan to visit the Wigan Youth Zone. For some of the young people this was their first time going out of London and/or going on the National Rail.

Once they arrived at Wigan, the young people were given a tour of Wigan centre and were invited to try the famous Wigan pie. They were then taken to Wigan Youth Zone and given a tour of their building and facilities. The young people really enjoyed the tour and were amazed by the quality of facilities available.

On the third week, the young people were given the opportunity to work with ZAK agency to develop the name, branding and logo of the LBHF Youth Zone. The workshops took place in Soho House in White City and at ZAK agency studios. The work the young people came up with will be published in the LBHF magazine in the coming months for the local people in the borough to vote on.

The young people really enjoyed this experience and many hope to go on to continue to be a part of the ‘Young People’s Development Group’ for the Youth Zone. It will enable them to gain valuable skills in fundraising, marketing, interviewing new staff, etc.