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My Wigan Youth Zone Journey

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Over the past decade, Wigan Youth Zone has been delivering vital youth work services across Wigan and Leigh, we are proud of the legacy that we have built and the young people who thrive from this.

We are celebrating and reflecting on our 10th Anniversary and the impact we have had on Wigan’s young people, their families and local communities.

Owens Journey

Owen Bolton, a hugely talented singer/ songwriter, who started attending Wigan Youth Zone back in 2013, believes that without the Youth Zone, the opportunity to realise and achieve his dreams would not have been possible. Fast forward to 2021, Owen has now graduated from a prestigious Performing Arts University in London, is an up-and-coming singer-songwriter, signed with an acting agency and now starring on the West End.

Saifs Story

Saif has been a member of our Senior club since May 2021, and dedicated Young Leader for over a year. Despite many heart-breaking hurdles out of his control, Saif’s positivity never waivers and he continues to thrive in many aspects of his life; a true inspiration to all that know him. Saif never misses any opportunity for his personal development, and anything that will help benefit WYZ and other Youth Zones across the Onside Network.

During the height of Lockdown in 2020, X-Factor winner Sam Bailey gave free voice coaching sessions to two young Wigan Youth Zone members supported by Little Dreams Foundation.

Little Dreams Foundation, was set up in the year 2000 by husband and wife stars Phil and Orianne Collins as an international initiative to support young talent in music, arts and sports.

Sam, a huge Phil Collins fan, donated her time during the lockdown to conduct online training sessions to teach talented young singers Emily Pearce, 17, and Georgia Linde, 15, performance techniques including body and face movements as part of the programme.

Sam Bailey said; “I am loving working with Emily and Georgia from Wigan Youth Zone, they are two very talented young ladies with great potential and it’s great to be able to share some wisdom with them. Phil has been an inspiration for my whole family my entire life, so to be able to pay it forward in such a great way is fantastic!”

Since the Youth Zones involved with the Little Dreams Foundation, the teens have had extraordinary opportunities such as flying out to Miami and performing with Phil Collins himself and other Little Dreamers. They have been supported by the foundation through Wigan Youth Zone for two years now and have developed massively both personally and musically.

Georgia said: “I have had an amazing experience within the past two years being with the Little Dreamers. I never thought I would be able to experience such great opportunities, the favourite being singing with Phil Collins in Miami. I am thoroughly enjoying working on my new material and it has been amazing to work with Sam who is really helping me with my performance.”

Nikki Varley, Deputy Head of Youth Work at Wigan Youth Zone said: “Our tagline at the centre is ‘Somewhere to go, Something to do, Someone to talk to’ and this messaging is more important than ever before with the current crisis at hand.

Emily said: It feels amazing to get training off a celebrity who so many people know, we are fans of Sam, and she has years of experience in the industry that she can share with us. It’s been very empowering for me. The zoom sessions are something to look forward to and I’ve already learned a lot,”