David Mellis

We’re OnSide, a national charity that believes all young people should have the opportunity to discover their passion and their purpose. To find out what they’ve got and where it could take them. We raise the funds to build state-of-the-art, multimillion-pound Youth Zones in the country’s most economically disadvantaged areas. We train the amazing people that run them. We offer continuing support to the nationwide OnSide Network where they can learn and grow, share their stories and celebrate their success together. This is a unique partnership between young people and their community, local authorities and private business leadership, and a growing movement of supporters. Every OnSide Youth Zone is a safe and inspiring place for thousands of young people to enjoy a wide range of activities and support. Youth Zones are open seven days a week including evening and weekends and all-day during school holidays. For just 50p per session young people between the age of 8 and 19 (25 for those with a disability) can access over 20 activities each evening. More than 50,000 members make around 600,000 visits to Youth Zones every year attracting young people from the most disadvantaged circumstances. Since 2008, we have been working in towns and cities across the country to establish Youth Zones that make a real difference to young people. From Carlisle to Croydon and with many more in the pipeline we are proud to have developed a growing national Network of Youth Zones, meeting the needs of young people in their communities.