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RAISING MR SMITH’S FROM THE ASHES

23rd April 2015 by Onside Youth Zones 3 min

We’re calling for the public to offer their support and donate to the campaign to SAVE WARRINGTON YOUTH ZONE, in an appeal to find the £500k additional funding to build a new youth facility.

Following the devastating fire at the iconic Mr Smith’s building in the early hours of last Tuesday 14th April 2015, the Warrington Youth Zone team have come together determined to still make Warrington Youth Zone a reality for the Borough’s young people.

We’ve united with Warrington Borough Council, Warrington Youth Club, Newton-based soft drinks company Vimto, Pervaiz Naviede Family in our commitment to ensure a state-of-the-art Youth Zone will open, ideally on the iconic landmark site of Mr Smith’s, despite the shocking damage caused in the recent fire.

With the iconic Mr Smith’s building now demolished, it can no longer be home to the Youth Zone, however there is light at the end of the tunnel, as we can confirms OnSide would still like to proceed and now build a brand new facility on the site.

Whilst Vimto has pledged its support for a new Youth Zone, the loss of the building has incurred an additional construction cost of £500k, as the facility will now need to be built from scratch.

Raising funds is critical to our success and every pound raised in this appeal will be kept safe and used for the development of a new facility on the Mr Smith’s site or if that’s not possible on an alternative.

Details for how to donate click here: http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/fund/helpsavewarringtonyouthzone

On behalf of all the young people who will benefit and all the volunteers currently involved from the club, we are very grateful and humbled by the level of support we are getting… THANK YOU so much.

Hear from the Youth Zone team

Nick Hopkinson MBE Chairman of Warrington Youth Club added: “Our mission is to give the young people of Warrington a place to go where they can be safe, learn new skills, be inspired to reach their potential and that is an alternative to hanging around the streets. To make this a reality we need to nurture the partnership between the community, local business and the council. Working together we can make the Youth Zone dream a reality.

Steve Broomhead, Chief Executive of Warrington Borough Council added: ‘’The provision of a Youth Zone remains under active consideration for the young people of Warrington and the Council therefore looks forward to exploring all options for the future.”

A representative from Vimto added: “We are shocked and saddened to see the Mr Smith’s building go up in flames, however we are still keen to support the creation of a Youth Zone in Warrington, ideally on the site of where Mr Smith’s stood.”

A spokesperson for The Pervaiz Naviede Family Trust said: “We are greatly saddened to see the remaining parts of the iconic Mr Smith’s building demolished following this devastating fire. We are currently assessing options for the site and would be thrilled if plans to develop it into a new Youth Zone come into fruition.”

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