ONSIDE / INTERVIEW
“We used to make sure our suppliers took tables at our
fundraisers and saw what we were about. Our customers
too. When I needed to get some help in tough times I could
get them all together, be honest about what we needed and
asked for some help. We got it, because we weren’t just
another business but we were real people in the real world
doing good things.”
The club itself is a remarkable hive of positive energy. But
many of the kids are from tough backgrounds, where this
represents a safe space. It has a zero tolerance approach to
anti-social behaviour, drugs and exploitation. A hard line is
taken with anyone crossing these lines, but kids are given a
chance. “We don’t give up on people. It’s what makes me so
critical of our society, we give up on people too easily. We
have taken kids here and turned them into model citizens.
“You put the toughest skinhead in a canoe and send him
onto some rapids and it’s going to change him. He gets an
adrenaline rush that hopefully makes him think he doesn’t
have to kick someone’s head in.”
“Our alumni is littered with pop stars, sports stars,
business people and plenty who come back as mentors to
the next generation.”
Visited by over 3,000 young people every week, Bolton Lads and Girls Club (BLGC) is a
state-of-the-art custom-built, modern youth club offering a wide range of sport, art and
enterprise activities.
Open 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year, the Club is driven by a powerful combination of
public, private and volunteer sector support.
It was in 2006 that serial entrepreneur Bill Holroyd was approached by officials from
BLGC to chair the Club’s Board. Bill willingly took on the role and realised very quickly
that other towns and cities in the country would clearly benefit from a first class facility like
Bolton. It was this vision that inspired him to develop the charity, OnSide Youth Zones and
spearhead the development of the Youth Zone ‘model’ across the country.
OnSide Youth Zones was officially established as a registered charity in 2008 and retains
the noble aim of 20 sites by 202