Kingswood Homes’ donation will enable Blackburn & Darwen Youth Zone, which celebrated its 10-year anniversary in 2022, to continue to change prospects for young people in the area.
In 2022, the Youth Zone mentored 439 young people, provided 44,000 free meals, helped 237 young people achieve a qualification or complete a training course and held 25 career days.
Kingswood Homes’ Gold status means they will be highly involved with members and have the opportunity to participate in the Youth Zone’s work through volunteering, mentoring and fundraising.
Paul Jones, Managing Director of Kingswood Homes, said:
“The Youth Zone has become a crucial part of the Blackburn and Darwen area, and because we build in areas close to Blackburn and Darwen, we wanted to be involved. Young people with aspirations are supported in a fantastic way thanks to the work and facilities the Youth Zone has, and their outreach is huge. Over 20% of the borough’s young people attend, and so we wanted to help ensure that over the next three years, they can continue to do what they do so kids can meet their full potential.”
Last year, Blackburn & Darwen Youth Zone supported 4963 young people and 502 young people benefited from employability support. These numbers continue to grow year after year.
Hannah Allen, Chief Executive of Blackburn & Darwen Youth Zone, said:
“We are really proud to have Kingswood Homes as a Gold Patron for Blackburn & Darwen Youth Zone. It couldn’t be more urgent to invest in young people.
“Some of our main focuses have been on how we can minimise the impact of the cost-of-living crisis on young people and their emotional health and well-being. We’re still tackling the lasting damage of the pandemic, yet now also face this new challenge: the cost of living crisis. During this period, our safeguarding concerns have increased by 52% on the previous year. Recent safeguard reports for September 2022 reflect a 304% increase. Of these, mental health, family environment, and neglect concerns have already significantly increased, and we expect more as parents/carers become less able to feed, clothe and keep children warm.”
To find out more about Blackburn & Darwen Youth Zone, visit www.blackburnyz.org