YMCA England & Wales Global Link

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