Vanessa Haworth

Vanessa joined OnSide in February 2022. She now leads ‘live’ Youth Zone projects nationally, taking them from the point of council approval up to pre-opening.  While design & build are being developed in parallel, Vanessa establishes governance structures for the new Youth Zone charities, builds strategic partnerships and ensures all key project milestones are met along the way.

With 20 years’ experience in arts-led regeneration, social housing and the charity sector, Vanessa has always been interested in building momentum and bringing new ideas to life. Prior to joining OnSide, she headed up Greater Manchester Mayor’s Charity taking the organisation from start-up phase to become a fully audited/established charity. Her passion for young people stems from a strong belief in early intervention and prevention. What we deliver working with young people today really does change the future.

Vanessa was a member of the Clore Social Leadership 2019/20 cohort, a national programme developing leaders with a social purpose so that they can transform their communities, organisations, and the world around them.

What inspired you to join OnSide?

Having worked in the not-for-profit sector for years, I wanted to get upstream of many of the challenges and barriers I’d seen affecting people in society. Working for a youth charity means you can genuinely make a life changing difference, in fact the impact of what we do can be multi-generational. I also love that OnSide makes a tangible change in the world – building something from scratch that didn’t exist before. Not many jobs give you that kind of satisfaction. Being born and bred in Bolton, I’m proud to work for one of the town’s greatest success stories!

What’s been a memorable moment you’ve had working with the team?

I think getting to the ground-break event on our South Bristol project in Dec 2024 was a real moment. What we do isn’t easy and that event was literally years in the making. Seeing young people put a spade in the ground and feeling the excitement and optimism of the 100+ people that came to mark the occasion was really powerful. It reminded me of the power of community and that persistence leads to progress.

What was the first Youth Zone you visited and what did you think?

Once I’d started in post, I shadowed a tour taking place at ‘The Way’ (Wolverhampton). The energy was infectious and I was really struck by the confidence and ownership of the young people. We were showing some council representatives round who were all ‘suited and booted’. Some of the members were obviously intrigued by us and we were told in no uncertain terms that the Youth Zone “wasn’t for sale” by one group – we must have looked like estate agents! Another member introduced themselves as the future CEO (this genuinely was their goal) and they wanted to know what we were doing there and if we had any questions. It was a brilliant. The conversations about what the Youth Zone meant to members were so open and insightful.

What would be your go-to Youth Zone room and why?

My background is in the visual arts, so you’d find me in the art studio – most likely trying out the kilns and ceramics facilities that the FiredUp4Clay campaign have brought to the network – I’ve always wanted to try making pottery. However, I should really get comfortable on the climbing wall as I’m scared of heights, and it would do me good to overcome that!

Tell us a fun fact about yourself

This might not be everyone’s idea of ‘fun’ but I have lived in 17 houses so far in my life. Thankfully, I really like change and interior design is a bit of a passion, so each new space is a new opportunity!