Over 400 members of the community join HideOut Youth Zone to celebrate the charities second birthday.
HideOut Youth Zone officially turned two years old on the 26th September 2022, and to help celebrate the charities birthday, HideOut opened its doors on Saturday 24th September to invite the local residents of East Manchester to join the celebrations.
Over 400 members of the community, including HideOut members, their family and friends, local Councillors and MPs and other community leaders attended the event. HideOut also welcomed local organisations to join the fun, including UA92, Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) and Greater Manchester Police (GMP).
As well as celebrating HideOut’s second birthday, the day aimed to showcase HideOut’s purpose and impact, and encouraged the community to check out what HideOut has to offer.
Attendees were treated to practical demonstrations led by HideOut staff, family-fun team activities, live performances from HideOut members and could try the various activities that young people (aged 8-19 and up to 25-year-olds) have access to as part of HideOut’s universal offer.
HideOut Youth Zone is open seven days a week, offering over 20 creative, sporting and employability and enterprise activities every night for just £5 annual membership and 50p per visit.
HideOut Youth Zone officially opened its doors to members back in 2020, and since that time has grown a membership of over 5,000.
One parent who attended the day said:
“I love the opportunity to come here and have a look round rather than just drop my son outside by the barriers…[as a parent] we don’t see what goes on beyond those barriers, so to come in and actually see it all in action is great, I love it!”
A member of the community who attended the day said:
“We were just walking round the area, and the balloon arch caught our eye – we saw it said ‘community day’, so we just came in to be nosey really. We live in the area, and we’ve seen the building, but we didn’t know what went on inside. But coming in and seeing it all, it’s amazing. I’m definitely telling my daughters about it!”
Head of Youth Work at HideOut Youth Zone, Joe Amos, said:
“It was amazing to see so many people today at HideOut. It’s been a great chance for our members to proudly show what they do here, and to meet the local community who haven’t had the chance to meet us yet! We can’t wait to do more days like this so we can engage with more people who haven’t yet come in to HideOut
If you’re a young person living in Manchester’s city-region, you can become a HideOut member by signing up on our website here.
