A Legacy is launched in Croydon

The young people of Croydon have spoken and their OnSide Youth Zone will officially be known as ‘Legacy’.

The announcement was made at a special presentation on Tuesday evening at Bernard Weatherill House after a record number of young people had their say in the borough. Just short of 3,000 votes were cast with ‘Legacy’ and ‘365’ the options.

There could only be one winner though and with 1,603 votes, Croydon will be home to Legacy Youth Zone.

The branding process was led by the Youth Zone’s Young People’s Development Group, which consists of young people from local partner community groups. The group has been meeting weekly to discuss plans for their Youth Zone and worked with the team at London design agency Sea to come up with the name, its logo and brand values.

After this, they went about collecting the 2,715 votes from schools and colleges as well as from young people they met in the centre of Croydon. Thanks to the group’s extraordinary efforts, more people took part in the Croydon OnSide branding process than any other in London.

The Young People’s Development Group have jointly worked on the following statement: “Working alongside a group of creative young people, we came up with a brand name which will leave a trademark for the future of young people in Croydon. Our Legacy will be at the heart of the Youth Zone.”

The young people presented their new brand at the launch event with guests from Croydon Council and local community groups attending. Chinelo Chizea, 18, compered proceedings with a fabulous musical performance by Kadi Foster and a presentation by McKay-Ann Francis and Angel Chizea.

Legacy Youth Zone’s acting chair Kay Andrews hosted the evening and was delighted with the response to the branding process.

She said: “It’s wonderful to see so many young people already engaged with Legacy Youth Zone and taking part in the vote and that is down to the hard work of the Young People’s Development Group.

“OnSide has a brilliant track record for building Youth Zones which provide somewhere to go, something to do and someone to talk to for young people. Whether they want to go and take part in one of the many activities on offer, relax with friends or gain one to one support from members of our staff, Croydon’s young people will have somewhere truly special.

“We are delighted with the progress so far and excited for what is to come in the coming months.”

Legacy Youth Zone will open in 2018 on Whitehorse Road in Thornton Heath with activities ranging from sports, music and dance to cooking. The centre is for young people aged between eight and 19 or up to 25 with a disability. Membership will cost £5 per year and then just 50p per visit.

The Youth Zone, which will cost £6million, is being developed by OnSide with Croydon Council as a strategic partner.

Cllr Alisa Flemming, Croydon Council’s cabinet member for children, young people and learning, attended Tuesday’s launch and spoke about why the Council is showing such great support for the project.

She said: ”Our young people deserve the very best facilities, and Legacy promises to deliver exactly that. As a council we made education provision one of our top manifesto pledges. We have one of the largest school building programmes in the country, and this fantastic development by OnSide means there will be a terrific new offer for young people outside school hours to complement the other great facilities already operating across the borough.”

If you are interested in joining our Croydon Young People’s Development Group, email mark.blundell@onsideyouthzones.org.