Wigan Youth Zone
Almost half of young people spend the majority of their free time alone, and 80% of young people spend most of their free time at home.
Case Study
“OnSide”, an organisation that supports a network of Youth Zones across the UK, released their second “Generation Isolation” report. The report surveyed 5,072 young people in England and highlights several key findings.
One of the main findings is that 1.3 million young people in England (26%) have stopped engaging in activities outside of school, such as socialising with friends, sports, and hobbies, due to the high cost of living. Additionally, the report shows that 76% of young people spend most of their free time on screens, while only 10% spend most of their free time with friends.
Almost half of young people spend the majority of their free time alone, and 80% of young people spend most of their free time at home. The report also reveals that 41% of young people lack a trusted adult in their life outside of their family.
Wigan Youth Zone (WYZ) over the past year have provided their services a total of 59,452 times, with 5,870 children and young people becoming Youth Zone members.
Of those members, 12% have additional needs, 11% are from minority ethnic backgrounds, and 42% live in the borough’s most deprived communities.
Additionally, they provided 4,911 places to their holiday provision, with 1,944 visits made by 304 young people who are on Free School Meals. Furthermore, 145 young people took part in residential trips, and many of them travelled outside the borough for the first time.
At WYZ, their youth workers build trust and strong relationships with their members, leading to conversations and explorations into complex safeguarding issues. Over the past year, they have logged 971 safeguarding concerns, all of which the team followed up with the young people. They have also distributed 16,885 free meals over the past 12 months (28% of the total number of visits) to vulnerable young people.
They have seen a steady increase in engagement of young people with activities and sessions stemming from The Base.
The increase in engagement can be attributed to their fantastic team of youth workers who build meaningful and trusted relationships, often leading to conversations and explorations into complex safeguarding issues.
They were delighted to have Megan join the team in 2023, whose work in the room has made a significant difference to many of their young people.
Lynsey Heys
Head of Fundraising
“We simply cannot thank Calisen enough for their support in 2023; the funding and help we have received from the team has helped us transform our targeted youth work offer via our ‘Base’ sessions. We have been able to work with hundreds of young people who needed that extra level of support through our female empowerment groups and male support groups and especially work with young people part of the LGBTQ+ community.
Through their support, we have been able to have meaningful conversations that often create those ‘light bulb’ moments that can literally change lives. As valued and truly appreciated Founder Patrons of our Charity we are proud to partner with them, to make sure Wigan Youth Zone’s services are a certainty for young people across Wigan and Leigh for years to come.”