New social enterprise, Esports Youth Club, ran a free gaming pop-up for over 260 young people in Brixton over the October half-term.
The event was run in collaboration with publisher 2K Games and took place at Arch 555 in Brixton, London.
The event was built around gaming sessions, esports tournaments, industry career advice and included food and prizes. It The event ran for nine consecutive days, with more than 80 hours of free activities.
The week was sponsored by 2K Games – the gaming company behind NBA2K23, PGA Tour 2K23, Borderlands and others.
The sessions focused on giving young people a safe place to enjoy the latest games, socialise with others and to learn via sessions on employability.
Ongoing local partners such as South London Refugee Association (SLRA), Step Out Mentoring, High Trees, Latin American Youth Forum (LAYF) and the Brixton Topcats brought their members to attend sessions throughout the weekdays.
Well-known British esports host Frankie Ward also made an appearance:
Huge thank you to you @FrankieWard and @2K_UK for all your support in helping us to bring positive gaming to the community ????????
— Esports Youth Club (@EsportsYC) October 31, 2022???? https://t.co/FiMCxlzNh2
The weekends were open to the wider public and featured some competitive NBA2K tournaments, with winners going home with the latest editions of 2K23 as prizes.
Outside of this pop-up, Esports Youth Club regularly collaborates with other charities and non-profit community organisations to host gaming and esports sessions across South London.
Esports Youth Club was set up in 2021 and says it has seen hundreds of young people in Lambeth attend its sessions. It’s a not-for-profit social enterprise run by a team of volunteers, with the aim of making gaming accessible for all in Brixton, South London.
Director Finan Trethewey said that it’s ‘more important than ever that young people have opportunities and accessible warm provisions in the school holidays.
“This was a great start ahead of our planned expansion in 2023 and we hope to be hosting many more half-term activations.”
Esports Youth Club
“I had a great time and we spent it laughing and joking, it was really fun,” said Abukar, one of the players at the pop-up.
Another player, Tom, commented: “There was amazing energy and vibes, everyone was super chilled and having a great time.”
Eric B, Brixton Topcats coach, added: “I’d say it was a quite complete event. The hospitality and gaming devices were all top quality. Kids and parents were very grateful for the opportunity!”
There’s more info at esportsyouthclub.org and in this Esports Youth Club whitepaper.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
