The Prince of Wales has visited the new OnSide Youth Zone in Hammersmith and Fulham, London, to see the brand-new purpose-built facilities that will soon be available to young people in the area.
Named WEST ('Where Everyone Sticks Together’) by local young people, the new Youth Zone will be staffed by skilled and dedicated youth workers who will support young people from across west London to develop the skills and confidence they need to achieve their dreams.
WEST Youth Zone is a newly formed local independent charity with facilities including a sports hall, fitness suite, indoor climbing wall, teaching kitchen, performing arts studio and café which will serve hot nutritious meals costing no more than £1. It has been developed by OnSide, a national youth centre charity whose mission is to empower young people to lead positive, fulfilling lives by providing access to state-of-the-art spaces and exceptional, life-changing youth work in areas where they are needed the most. There are fourteen Youth Zones in the national OnSide network including in Bolton, Manchester, Wigan and across London, with seven more set to open over the next two years in locations such as Bristol, Grimsby, Essex and Preston.
In 2021, the then Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visited OnSide’s Wolverhampton Youth Zone, ‘The Way’.
During his visit, The Prince will spent time speaking to pupils from Ark White City primary school and WEST’s Young People’s Development Group who were involved in shaping the design and facilities in the new centre, and hearing why WEST will be transformative for young people living locally. His Royal Highness then toured the Youth Zone, meeting young people using the four-court indoor sports hall before seeing the teaching kitchen which is used to support the development of cooking skills, before celebrating the launch of the new Youth Zone with a plaque unveiling.
