Last Sunday Yo! Street Zone youth football and panna club held a buzzing community event at the Hall by the Sea in Dreamland Margate to celebrate 10 years of their work with young people in Thanet.
At the event, presented by People Dem Collective 100 guests were in attendance, including many young people from the community. The Mayor of Margate Rob Yates also attended and showed great support for the work.
The event started with a presentation by club founder Yofi Yvorra, taking the audience on a journey, starting at the humble beginnings of Yo! Street Zone all the way up to the organisation’s current achievements.
Yo! Street Zone also took the opportunity to thank everyone who has supported them over the years, including Victoria Barrow-Williams from People Dem Collective who helped make the event possible, Bali Rodgers from the Safer Communities Alliance and James Gregory from Street Games.
James said: “We are so proud of what you (Yo! Street Zone) have achieved with all your hard work in Thanet with thousands of young people, making sure that they have somewhere to go, something to do and people to talk to.”
Yofi also called the Yo! Street Zone team on stage with members including Jacopo, Paige, Anna, Jamie and Peter.
Patrik and Peter joined the sessions in Dalby Square, Cliftonville 10 years ago and are now part of the organisation’s main youth workers and street football coaches.
The evening concluded with a 2v2 street football competition for young people. The winning team received trophies and a £100 sports shop voucher.
Yo! Street Zone currently runs three weekly street football sessions in Margate and Cliftonville, engaging disadvantaged and vulnerable children and young people with street football.
Funding from the Million Hours Fund will also allow them to expand their weekly session into Ramsgate in spring 2024. The Million Hours Fund is a £22 million jointly funded initiative from the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) and The National Lottery Community Fund, the largest community funder in the UK.
The programme funds organisations to provide positive activities for young people in areas with high levels of antisocial behaviour.
Yo! Street Zone
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