A NEW partnership between the home of Coventry City and a charity aims to create opportunities for local young people.
Coventry Building Society Arena is teaming up with Positive Youth Foundation (PYF), which offers programmes and initiatives to young people in Coventry and surrounding areas.
The charity will become one of the venue’s community partners, and staff from the venue will help to support and upskill staff and volunteers at PYF.
The venue will help the charity with staff development and food safety standards, and also provide enrichment opportunities for young people.
To launch the partnership, the arena has donated furniture to refresh the space at Hillfields Young Peoples Centre. Staff at the arena have also raised more than £1,350 to support the kitchen at the centre.
The partnership will initially focus on developing and training staff at PYF to operate the kitchen by offering advice around food safety, cleaning, and assisting the charity with essential paperwork.
Coventry Building Society Arena’s experts will also help the charity design a new kitchen, and plan to deliver cooking lessons for young people supported by PYF.
PYF is the venue’s third community partner, joining Coventry Foodbank and Coventry & Warwickshire Children’s Charity.
Mark O’Shea, Catering and Experience Director at Coventry Building Society Arena, said: “We are committed to supporting all areas of our community and the work PYF do is vital to support the positive futures of hundreds of young people across the city.
“Our team has a huge amount of expertise in food safety, catering and operational standards, and sharing that knowledge with PYF staff and volunteers will help strengthen the invaluable services they provide.
“This is all about creating opportunities and working with PYF to make a lasting impact and real difference for young people in Coventry.”
Krishan Singh, Director of the Positive Youth Foundation, said: “PYF is excited to partner with Coventry Building Society Arena in order to improve outcomes for local young people.
“Already, we have seen great benefit in working together and look forward to the next phases where we will increase the skills of our staff, volunteers and young people, in particular in important areas such as food preparation and event management.
“We would like to thank Mark and the team for their commitment towards our work with young people from across the Coventry area.”
Visit www.positiveyouthfoundation.org for more information on the Positive Youth Foundation.
