After being nagged by Ken for the best part of a year, I have finally got around to adding a blog post!

I, along with 6 other colleagues have just finished our fourth International Leadership Programme (ILP) meeting in Darlington. With only two weeks to go until (as a group) our second General Assembly it was great to catch up with friends and organise a few events. People have been busy sorting out the English evening on the Saturday night and if you do not already know what is planned you are in for a pleasant surprise. As an ILP we will be holding a traditional ‘tombola’ where every entrant wins a prize. We hope to have a few good prizes on offer including a Kindle Fire and some bespoke pieces of YMCA memorabilia.

As a group I think the aim will be to chat to other nations a bit more. Last year in Prague was our debut so we were a bit reserved but now we have a lot more to say and I am sure you will speak to a few of us during your stay in Manchester.

We all know that the festival will be soon upon us. This is my first visit so I am really excited to witness the atmosphere I have a lot about. It seemed that before I even got off my flight last night I have been asked if I would be interested in driving a stock van to Prague, which is around a 1,400 mile round trip from South Wales. I was unsure at first - especially after consulting the girlfriend - but then I thought to myself; it’s not often you get to travel the continent with hundreds of t-shirts, pin badges and whatever else they can fit into a transit van! Please can the van have automatic gears…

So, as my laptop battery is nearly extinguished, we hope to talk to as much of you as possible at the GA. We will surely be helping out Ken with the tombola and the events planned for the Saturday evening.

Chris Richards

Newport YMCA, YMCA Wales

YMCA International Leadership Programme

Arif Hussain

Introducing Arif

darryn causby

Introducing Darryn

Danny Clarke

Introducting Danny

Martine McGarry

Introducing Martine.

6 Months finished...

I'm back! Sorry again for my absence but life at the Rocheton is getting ever busier.

Since January all that has happened is there has been more and more work each day. I used to think it was a walk in the park here but now the hotel side is full every week with it scheduled to get worse, on the social side it has just involved redecorating the rooms as families leave and new arrive. On a plus note, I work with the children twice a month which is a nice change but sometimes even more difficult!

Everyday I get more and more confident speaking in French, not particularly fluently, but I understand and people understand me. Most people tell me everyday I speak brilliantly for how long I have been here. Well everyone except the big boss at YMCA France who thinks I have hardly improved. I can not cope with that so I am now forcing my friends to speak just in French with me even though they would like to improve their English.

I have had 3 adventures since January. One to Spain to see my Mum and Dad & two to gloomy Bolton. Spain as you can imagine was amazing, such a wonderful place but for me it was definitely just spending time with family that made it. Bolton was the same old stuff different time... I will be devastated when I leave the Rocheton to go back there. I love the people but I am over the place. Sadly.

With the other volunteers we have monthly day excursions, the latest was to the Chateaux Chambord. Absolutely magnificent place, just the building was a work of art, learning the history of the place and how it was built was fantastic! At first i wasn't too keen on the culture of France but it is slowly growing on me!

I say this every time but we will see how it goes, I will try and post more often! 6 months has flown by which is a real shame because I do genuinely love it here but after I definitely would like to work deeper within the YMCA, England, France or where ever, I enjoy the Y where ever I go & never scared to rock a YMCA t-shirt/jacket! I hope the upcoming months are slow ones but I also can not wait for Prague!

Time Spent in the Land of the Holy One

Well it is Tuesday 9th April, 16.15 and I feel I am now zoning back into life in England. That might sound very strange considering I only left on Thursday 4th!

Some say I have a Dream job, and after the last few days, I certainly do agree. I set out at 6.30 on Thursday morning taking a train from Darlington to Manchester to take up the role of substitute for a member of the Executive Committee of the World Alliance of YMCA's. This meeting is taking place in Jericho in Palestine. Flight destined to depart at 12.20, which it did....... before returning to the stand due to a technical problem with one of the planes engines. Off loaded at 13.30. New schedule for departure 18.00. Best contact the folks in Jericho who were arranging transport from Tel Aviv to Jericho..phone missing. (I believe it was handed in and I should get it back tomorrow) so next five days without a phone or contact numbers. Anyway enough of this travel saga, eventually checked into The Intercontinential Hotel Jericho at 04.00 Friday. Meeting due to commence at 08.30.

I woke at 07.45ish and when I opened the curtains, I see desert to the foreground and to the right and the Dead Sea to the left.

At breakfast I was greted by friends from around the world, and I have said a bit about the first day in my previous post.

I sat at a table of experienced and inspiritional people from around the world, not just from my age profile but some of what I suspect is the richest talent in young leaders from Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe.

The committment and wisdom is apparent and obvious. Once again I find myself sitting on the shoulders of giants.

Those that know me well will understand that I have mobility problems with walking up gradients, but as I walked the cobbled streets of Old Jerusalem I was motivated by the colour and smell and noise of what I was seeing in the Old Town and somehow that lifted me. If you do not know the situation of the Palestinian people first hand, hearing the sincerity in their voice, the warmth in their welcome and the generosity of their hospitality, knowing that just below the surface there is an ache, a pain, that derives from a lifetime of living without hope,this it truely humbling.

The other striking factor I noticed.... I visited the same areas some 25 years ago and the way I would describe the difference between then and now is, what I can only say is humbling dignity.

One of the unique atributes of the YMCA Movement is that we seek to serve the needs of the communities within which we operate. We visited the International YMCA in the heart of West Jerusalem, made up with leaders from the Jewish, Chrisitan and Muslim communities. I suspect this is one of the very very few organisation constituted in this way in Israel. In East Jerusalem and the West Bank, the YMCA provides vocational training to hundreds of young people, all those we met had a glint in their eye and appeared to be committed to gaining the most from their training with the YMCA.

There were a number of occasions where I was moved to tears when I heard stories about the experiences of all those involved in the YMCA in Jerusalem, East and West and those behind the wall on the West Bank.

When I visited last time it was during the first Intafada and I returned home traumatised, I entitled my report of that visit as 'The Land called Holy'. In this case I would refer to it in the same way as my dear friend, the former Bishop of Jerusalem would describe it. 'The Land of the Holy One.'

I hope you have got a little glimpse into what I have been up to during the past five days and If you do nothing else I would encourage you to explore and little more, the issues that effect the people in the Land of the Holy One?

A view from Jericho

I have been in Jericho now for three days, attending the World Executive Committee for the World Alliance of YMCA's. We have been so busy that I have not had the time to post to the blog, but lets's see if I can rectify that this morning.

Having had a nightmare of a journey here, supposed to have arrived at 17.40 on Thursday evening, actual arrival time, 04.00am Friday. Long story and more suitable for a Facebook status rather than here.

The first day kicked off at 8.30 so feeling just a little jaded but very soon rejuvenated by the impact of being part of a wonderfully diverse group of people. Let me see if I can give you a flavour of the day. There were about sixty people in the room and they came from Norway, New Zealand, USA, Netherlands,Scotland, Belarus, Uraguay, Canada, Germany, Togo, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Senagal, Japan, South Korea, India, Singapore, Spain, Palestine, Switzerland and England. I know I will have missed someone out, apologies.

The day consisted of discussions around the strategic direction of the Global Movement, not just for the next couple of years but in fact through to 2018.

Some really exciting stuff happening, we recieved a paper on Young People and Health, due soon will be a piece of research on Young People and Employment, and the most exciting and ambitious of all is a Global Survery representing 1 million voices on the aspirations for the Future. Fantastic stuff!

We were then treated to an update from the Secretary General, Johan Vilhelm Eltvik.

He began by reminding us that as an organisation, we are 169 years old and we pondered on how we have managed to achieve such a great milestone.

He suggested that there are three main reasons for this, our Vision, or leadership and our ability to evolve and modernise.

Johan Vilhelm then led us through the four seasons of our existence which he suggested has brought us to a new WAY and a clatity of fucus for todays world.

From here we heard reports from working groups and updates on progress.

There was four key areas of focus agreed for our future work.
Employment
Healthy Living
Environment and
Civil Engagement

This then came together with agreement that advocacy on these issues shoul be a focus of how we do things globally.

More later