Blackburn and Darwen Youth Zone’s first supper club of the year was held at Jules Restaurant, Mytton Fold on Wednesday 2nd April, where Leon Crosby was unveiled as the charity’s new CEO.
Leon shared with the patron network that his journey demonstrates the power of great youth work. From attending Bolton Lads and Girls Club aged 11, to volunteering as a young leader and then working his way from a paid youth worker to Director of Operations, and now CEO, Leon credits the youth workers of 20 years ago with providing a supportive, encouraging environment and the spark of ambition to get him where he is today.
Guests were then invited to ask questions of Jojo, a young person who started as a Youth Zone member and now volunteers as a Young Leader. Jojo shared that the Youth Zone has provided new activities, helped to develop her confidence and provided opportunities such as joining a national youth forum which will help to inform the Government.
Supper club events are exclusive to patrons of the charity and offer an enjoyable evening of meaningful connection, collaboration, and shared purpose.
Leon Crosby CEO of Blackburn & Darwen Youth Zone said:
“Charities are not exempt from the rise in National Insurance Contributions and this, combined with the increase to National Minimum Wage is going to increase our costs by around £100,000 annually. This supper club allowed us to begin the year by expressing our gratitude to the patron network for their support, which amounts to around half of our income. It is the commitment of the local business community which allows us to continue our vital work and we hope to weather the storm of increasing costs together”.
Patrons attending the event were: BAE, BBF, Blackburn Chemicals, Blackburn College, Blackburn Round Table, Blackburn with Darwen Borough Council, Brookhouse Aerospace, Businesswise Solutions, Coolkit, Darwen Terracotta, Dobson & Beaumont, Flavour Warehouse, Gordon Taylor OBE, Graham & Brown, Handelsbanken, Kingswood Homes, Mergon, Multevo, Napthens, Pendle Doors, Pets Choice, PM+M, Precision Polymer Engineering, Prestige Beds, Red Rose Holdings, Rosslee, Senator, Staci, Symclean, Vape Dinner Lady, Watson Ramsbottom.
For further information about the Youth Zone’s supper clubs, or to learn more about the patron network, contact melanie.thomas@blackburnyz.org.
