John Boyega surprises young people at South London youth centre

Amazon has teamed up with youth charity OnSide – which builds, opens, and maintains a national network of state-of-the-art Youth Zones. Amazon has committed products, funds, and programming to OnSide and the 50,000 young people across the UK using these centres. The organisations are teaming up to highlight the need for investment in spaces for people under 25 – including revealing a new report called the “Youth Space Access Report and Index”. This new research, commissioned by Amazon, shows almost half (49%) of young adults interviewed nationwide feel there are too few free places for them to go at a time when two-thirds (69%) cite the cost of living crisis as their biggest concern. With help from Star Wars actor John Boyega, Amazon kicked off this ongoing relationship with OnSide by fulfilling the Wish List for Legacy, OnSide’s Youth Zone in Croydon, delivering their needs ahead of the Christmas holiday.

John Boyega x Amazon: Deliver a Christmas Surprise in Croydon
BAFTA award winner and star of the recent blockbuster, The Woman King, John Boyega, who grew up on a council estate in South London, paid a surprise visit to Legacy, OnSide’s Youth Zone in Croydon and helped deliver Amazon’s Christmas gift. The Legacy youth workers and young people created their own Wish Lists on Amazon including Amazon devices like Kindles to supercharge the library, as well as Amazon Fire HD Tablets and Echo Dots (5th generation). The teams also received a PlayStation 5 and controllers for gamers; microphones and keyboards for the music studio; 3D printer; hair and beauty products for the beauty space; art and craft materials for the art room; DSLR cameras and kit for photography tutorials; weights for Legacy’s gym, and a range of sport equipment from golf nets and putting sets, to basketballs and a go-kart to inspire the next generations of sports stars. Amazon also provided gifts for each attendee to take home, as well as food from Amazon Fresh for the special night.

To the delight of those in attendance, the Star Wars actor revealed the oversized Christmas gift from Amazon, and more importantly spoke to the attendees about his journey from The Big Smoke to the big screen. Boyega’s story demonstrates the importance of young people having access to safe, vibrant youth spaces, where the actor found his passion through a hyper-local after-school drama project.

While spending the evening at Legacy Youth Zone, John Boyega was also shown around the Youth Zone’s facilities by its members and youth workers including listening to a track-recording in the music studio, taking in a training session at the zone’s boxing ring, and helping to cook up a storm in the on-site training kitchen. See John Boyega give young people in Croydon a day to remember at amazon.co.uk/deliveringsmiles.

John Boyega, actor, said: “We didn’t have a lot of money when I was growing up so I know how important it is to have free spaces and activities outside of the home. I was lucky that I had my father’s church and a local community drama group at Theatre Peckham, so I had places to go, and opportunities to dream. That’s why places like Legacy Youth Zone in Croydon are so important for the next generation – we just need more of them, all across the country so young people have a safe space to be themselves and have the opportunity to discover their passions in life, just as I did.”

Introducing the UK’s Youth Space Access Index
Boyega’s visit comes as Amazon reveals a new “Youth Space Access Index”. This ranks local authorities by their access to youth spaces for young people (aged 13-25) in England. The Index revealed that Norfolk is the worst affected local authority, with stark deprivation of appropriate spaces for young adults seen across the east of England. North East and South East regions each have three areas named in the list as well. This research into the state of the nation’s youth spaces highlights the need for investment and informs Amazon’s work with OnSide, who are providing state-of-the-art facilities in some of the UK’s most economically disadvantaged areas.

John Boumphrey, Amazon UK Country Manager, said: “Young people are at risk of becoming this century’s lost generation as they live through a cost-of-living crisis, while still reeling from the global pandemic. We were inspired by OnSide’s mission to have a life-changing impact on this generation. Our team at Amazon has committed products, funds, and programming to OnSide for their network of inspiring Youth Zones supporting 50,000 young people across the UK. This is part of our wider commitment to act as a force for good in the communities where we operate, and we’re proud to have worked with over 10,000 organisations across the UK in the last 12 months alone, that also focus on young people.”

Amazon x OnSide: Here for Young People
Insights from Amazon’s research into the state of the nation’s youth spaces will inform ongoing support and programming from Amazon at OnSide Youth Zones across the UK in 2022 and beyond. Amazon’s work with OnSide involves financial support, product donations and ongoing programming which will help give young people around the country access to inspiring people across Amazon’s workforce and network through volunteering schemes. Amazon locations across the UK are linking up with individual Youth Zones which are part of OnSide’s network to support their unique needs at a local level, from fundraising support to product donations, volunteering to mentorship.
Jamie Masraff, incoming Chief Executive, OnSide, said, “Every young person deserves access to safe, inspiring spaces, where they can discover their passions and their purpose. Youth Zones offer many thousands of young people in communities nationwide a chance to have fun, make friends and try new things all with help from trusted youth workers – vital support which builds self-esteem and resilience, laying the foundations for them to thrive into adulthood. Working with organisations like Amazon means that we can help many more young people access the benefits of incredible youth work, within Youth Zones designed to meet their needs.”

Not just for Christmas: A Programme of Support for Young People
The initiative is part of a wider programme of support for young people through financial and product donations and Amazon has helped more than 10,000 organisations in the past 12 months that support young people in the UK. This includes Prime Video Pathway, a £10 million pledge across three years to support training and development in the UK TV and Film Industry, and an initiative with In Kind Direct, supported 266 charities who work in youth care. Last month, Amazon also supported Comic Relief’s Cost of Living Christmas Appeal to support people in the UK who are living in incredibly difficult circumstances.

Visit amazon.co.uk/deliveringsmiles to learn more about Amazon’s work with OnSide, its wider support for young people across the UK and how to support OnSide by shopping though AmazonSmile.