On Thursday 15th November, over 200 people from 52 businesses across Lancashire came together at the Dunkenhalgh Hotel & Spa for the third annual Blackburn Youth Zone Quiz Quest.

The Quiz Quest is organised by Blackburn based recruitment and employment specialists Cummins Mellor who are also Patrons of the Youth Zone, a 21st century youth hub located at the heart of Blackburn, aiming to change the prospects offered to young people in the area.

As well as the quiz, the evening saw a performance from members of the youth zone, a raffle with over 30 fantastic prizes donated by Lancashire businesses and an auction with luxury items including Afternoon Tea for Two at the House of Lords and signed memorabilia from Novak Djokovic.

After an exciting 10 rounds of questions, the end of the evening saw the title of ‘BYZ Quiz Quest Champions 2018’ go to Napthens Solicitors, who were presented with a trophy and medals made by members of Blackburn Youth Zone.

The £15,170 raised on the night will go towards the Youth Zone’s ‘Get a Job’ programme, facilitated by the team at Blackburn Youth Zone. This programme is aimed at supporting young people aged 16 – 24 years, gain the right skills for employment.

In the last year, the programme has enabled 100 young people enter into employment, education or training and 250 young people aged 14 and over taking part in masterclasses delivered by Blackburn Youth Zone Patrons.

Commenting on the success of the evening, Cummins Mellor’s Managing Director Michelle Mellor said; 

“I am blown away by the success of our latest company fundraising effort. This year saw more support than ever with 58 teams, representing 52 companies across East Lancashire coming together to support Blackburn Youth Zone.

Bringing people together around a common purpose while creating a playful rivalry is a great example of how you can make a big difference to the people in your community. Raising over £15,000 this year is testament to what we can achieve when we all work together.

A special mention, once again this year must be made to Ivan Lynch, General Manager at the Dunkenhalgh Hotel and his team for their extremely generous hospitality, together with Barclays bank who have fund matched.”

Blackburn Youth Zone Chairman, Rt Hon Jack Straw who was present on the evening commented;

“So many thanks and congratulations to everyone in the Cummins Mellor group of businesses. Your amazing efforts, individual and collective, gave everyone a fantastic, fun evening, and raised over £15,000 for the Blackburn Youth Zone ‘Get a Job’ programme. This is to help those of our members who are stuck, out of work, and out of college, to gain employment – and a better life. It is thanks to you that we will be able to do this.

Our staff at the Youth Zone do fantastically important work with the 800 plus young people who use the Youth Zone every week. None of that would be possible without the continuing and very generous support of the business community in our area – of which Cummins Mellor is tops!”