New charity ambassador looks to business community for support

Inspire Chorley Youth Zone has appointed Andrew Dunn as its first corporate ambassador to help raise awareness of the charity, especially amongst the business community. 

Inspire has been helping the young people of Chorley since opening its doors in May 2018, and supports thousands of young people across Chorley, providing a safe and aspirational environment for young people to spend time with friends, enjoy a nutritious hot meal and escape the pressures of normal life to focus on their own development.

The charity, which has to raise £1.1m a year to operate, relies on the fundraising efforts of the local community and businesses. Andrew, who is client relationship director at local law firm CG Professional, will help by working with those local businesses and building relationships.

Andrew said: “I’m absolutely delighted to be helping Inspire as an ambassador. As a Chorley Iad I’m extremely proud to be a part of it. I recognise how important it is for the business  community to support our young people and if I can facilitate that happening, then I’m more than happy to do so.

“Businesses that get involved with Chorley Youth Zone are making a positive impact to the lives of Chorley’s young people - and ultimately their future workforce.”

One in three young people from Chorley and the surrounding areas regularly visit the Youth Zone and Lancashire Police have commended Inspire for a phenomenal 49% reduction in youth anti-social behaviour across Chorley. 

Janine Blythe CEO at Inspire, said: “CG Professional’s managing partner, Stacey Turner sits on our board and they have always been extremely supportive. We’ve known Andrew for a number of years and he’s been very proactive in terms of wanting to understand what we do here and encouraging others to get involved. The work Andrew was doing off his own back made us realise how important a role it was for us within the business community.

“People who are well-connected like Andrew are able to have conversations with local  businesses that we’re just not able to. Helping us to spread the word about the important work that we do as a charity is invaluable and we’ve already seen the benefits from Andrew’s involvement. 

“We asked him to be an Ambassador because we wanted to recognise the amount of work and support that he's already done for us and we’d encourage others to and find out how they can support Chorley’s next generation.”