The West Shore Local Hero Awards are back! You can find this year’s special feature in the March 22 edition of the Goldstream Gazette or online under e-editions. Stay tuned for more on each of this year’s honourees, you will be able to read their stories online at goldstreamgazette.com.
Stew Young has worked tirelessly to build community on the West Shore.
Young was on Langford’s first council in 1992 before serving as mayor from December 1993 until this past October. He’s lived in Langford his entire life and attended Belmont Secondary School.
Seeing Langford grow is important for Young. He says the most significant project during his time as mayor was the new collaborative post-secondary campus coming to Langford.
“Now local students can get an education right in the town where they live,” Young said. “It will cut down on the traffic going to Victoria. We got a lot of support from the community and the provincial government. We worked with the government and let them know the importance of it. It was a lot of work.”
A joint campus for Royal Roads University, the University of Victoria, Camosun College and the Justice Institute of British Columbia is being built on the lot at 798 Goldstream Ave. There will also be space for Sooke School District programming. The campus is scheduled to be completed in 2024 with a capacity of 1,200 students.
Young is proud that people now want to stay in Langford.
“The idea is that your citizens don’t have to get in the car and leave for their job in the morning,” Young said. “You want to be self-sustaining. That was our plan all the way along. There are also things to do here. You want to make sure that you have opportunities for residents to actually live, work and play here.”
He’s been instrumental in putting Langford on the map recreationally.
“We’ve got a lot of national teams playing here and basing their headquarters in Langford at the Starlight Stadium,” Young said. “Elite athletes train here and support our younger athletes to get them into rugby or soccer. People come from all over, and we get thousands of people coming to games. It brings millions of dollars to our community and it’s great entertainment value for the residents.”
Young has also done a substantial amount of philanthropic work, including starting the Langford Mayor’s Annual Charity Golf Tournament, which is a fundraiser for local charities. The event raised approximately $8,000 during its first year and over $200,000 at the 26th annual tournament this past summer.
“We’ve probably raised around $2 million over the years,” Young said. “It was a really good fundraiser. I believe in a lot of charities.”
The City of Langford will not be holding the event this year, but Young is working with various community members to put on another charity golf tournament with a new name. Young is hoping the fundraiser will take place in June.
“I think we’ll just call it the ‘West Shore Charity Golf Tournament’ and get people to help out,” he said. “There’s still a need. It’s a real benefit to the community. Local charities aren’t getting money from a lot of places right now. I’ve got a lot of time now so I can do more charitable work.”
READ MORE: 2023 Local Hero Awards
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