Salford Youth Zone has been given a £50,000 investment by Matchroom Charitable Foundation in the hope to increase opportunities for younger people.
Matchroom Charitable Foundation, fronted by CEO and major sports promotion mogul Barry Hearn OBE, have launched a partnership with EMPOWER, an organisation overseeing Salford Youth Zone.
The youth zone, which opened in 2025, has already recorded around 55,000 visits from its local members of ages from eight-19, and now sees a huge opportunity to expand the opportunities and support that it can offer for its regular visitors.
Each visit to Salford Youth Zone, located in Pendleton costs just 50p, and users receive access to a free hot meal on top of more than 20 activities which are boosting the social connections and wellbeing of young people from across the city.
The initiative was implemented among a week of events surrounding the major British cruiserweight title clash between John Hedges and Pat Brown at Manchester’s Co-op Live.
As part of this fight-week programme, the Youth Zone received a visit from boxing prospect Alfie Middlemiss, who made up part of the undercard on the Hedges-Brown event (September 19), alongside his trainer – all courtesy of Matchroom’s Head of Community Development, Alex Le Guével.
The visit provided scope for the visitors to get to grips with the plethora of activities at the disposal of its users, including a four-court sports hall, 3G football pitch, padel court, climbing wall, gym, boxing area and spaces for darts and pool.
The partnership was officially confirmed last Saturday, where chairman of Matchroom Sport Eddie Hearn formally announced a £50,000 donation towards both of EMPOWER’s dedicated youth centres – Salford Youth Zone and with HideOut Youth Zone in Gorton, Manchester.
The funding will go towards increasing the breadth of EMPOWER’s branches across Greater Manchester, along with the ability to sustain their safe spaces for young people to prosper in social environments, along with support services readily available.
CEO, Adam Farricker, relished the opportunity for Matchroom Foundation’s services to expand with the youth zones, and the positive knock-on effects the partnership intends to have on the city and the younger generation.
He said: “Grants like this make it possible for our Youth Zones to continue offering first-rate sporting facilities and unique opportunities to young people.
“We were delighted to welcome Matchroom Boxing during fight week and showcase the difference EMPOWER makes in young lives. Thanks to this funding, we can continue increasing access to sport and exploring new and meaningful ways to engage young people.”
Matchroom’s relationship with EMPOWER and Salford Youth Zone will not only impact the current situations of its young regular visitors, but the initiative promises to create branches of employment through the ‘Undercard’ system- Matchroom’s sports industry apprenticeship programme. It also offers opportunities for paid work and structured training for young people.
The Matchroom Charitable Foundation was founded in 2016. As a result of the campaign, £1 of each ticket bought to the week’s Matchroom events will be donated to support community sport, disability services, hospices and organisations delivering important work in their local areas.
