Wigan Youth Zone young people inspired by Mr Dave Whelan

Members of Wigan Youth Zone have been given some sage retail advice and support from Youth Zone President, Mr David Whelan at their market stall on Wigan Market.

The stall donated by Wigan Market to the Youth Zone charity, offers young people the ability to learn valuable work and enterprise skills as part of the Get a Job course.

Mr Whelan, who along with Martin Ainscough and Bill Ainscough founded the Youth Zone, is a passionate supporter of the Get a Job course and used the opportunity to visit the stall and pass on his pearls of wisdom. Also on the day, Mr Whelan met other stall holders including the new tenants of his old pitch, where he worked at prior to moving onto the high street with DW Sports.

Sikander Ali, Enterprise and Employability Worker at Wigan Youth Zone, said:

“The market stall is a fantastic opportunity for young people involved in our Get a Job course to gain experience in marketing, stock management and sales, all of which are strong transferable skills they can take into the world of work.

“A huge thank you goes out to Wigan Market for the donation of the stall. We also thank Mr Whelan for his time and continued support, our team of young people got the chance to learn from a retail leader and this visit has inspired them to develop the stall, learning valuable life skills in the process.”

The Get a Job project, is particularly distinct as it allows our Youth Zones to support young people who are not in education, employment or training, as well as young people deemed ‘at risk’ or ‘hard to reach’, as well as those from deprived backgrounds.

With funding from Accenture Foundation UK and AO Smile Foundation, our Youth Zones have been able to work with over 400 young people in the last 12 months, with 378 completing the Course.