Every little helps: Croydon’s Legacy Youth Zone will get £25,000 a year for three years from multi-billion corporation Westfield
Croydon’s Legacy Youth Zone is to receive £75,000 over the next three years as part of a “new partnership” with Unibail-Rodamco Westfield, the French-owned multi-billion shopping centre developers and owners.
URW announced the deal with Legacy, saying that it “forms part of URW’s wider investment in the area and builds on its longstanding relationship with national youth charity, OnSide”.
Legacy, on Whitehorse Road in Selhurst, will receive £25,000 per year until 2026, as another OnSide youth project, West, in Hammersmith and Fulham, will benefit from a similar package,
Westfield, in various corporate forms, has had an interest in Croydon for 12 years, where it announced that it would redevelop the town centre shopping malls Centrale and the Whitgift Centre in a £1.4billion part-retail, part-leisure, part-residential scheme. The new shopping centre was originally due to open in 2017.
Paris-based URW operates 72 shopping centres in 12 countries, including 38 which carry the Westfield brand. The company is currently reckoned to be worth £9.4billion.
The West Youth Zone is part of EdCity, a £150million regeneration scheme that aims to bring improved community facilities, affordable homes and what URW describes as “an innovative education hub” to White City, where Westfield has managed to deliver one of its shopping centres.
In the corporate announcement, URW said: “Over the next three years URW will invest £25,000 per year in both Youth Zones, totalling £150,000. The funding will go towards creating opportunities and access to learning and activities for young people.”
Croydon’s Legacy Youth Zone was built with significant investment from Croydon Council, but since 2021 it has lost its funding grant from the local authority, and now relies on donations, sponsorships and corporate benevolence.
Open seven days a week, the centre provides young people access to a wide range of support services and activities, including sports, arts, music, employability and mentoring, as well as state-of-the-art facilities such as recording studios, climbing walls, Apple suites, well-being studios and kitchens.
Last month, Legacy welcomed 3,499 children and young people through its doors.
Gavin Evans, the CEO at Legacy, said: “We are delighted to welcome URW to our family of supporters and will be looking forward to developing our partnership together over the next three years for the benefit of young people.
“URW’s commitment will ensure that thousands of young people from Croydon have access to a safe and inspirational place to be, 52 weeks a year.”
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“Thousands of people from Croydon (used to) have access to a safe and inspirational place to be, 52 weeks a year.”
We called it the Whitgift Centre.
£250K bribe more like,, just get on with it!!!!!