As the Shepherds Watched.......

Another name on the Beit Sahour branch of East Jerusalem YMCA is the Shepherds field YMCA. The name was established because the property is also the site of a shepherds' grotto that was possibly used at the time of Jesus' birth. On Christmas Eve, YMCA invites members and others to meet for a service. It is also used for devotion at other occasions. At this place, away from the crowds at Manger Square and the Church of the Nativity, it is easier to capture the scene of that night when shepherds saw the star that was to lead them to the Child.

"8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
13 Suddenly a

great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told."

http://www.ej-ymca.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=71&Itemid=93

Peace Work Institute, Litomysl

Less than a month ago, Ken posted from a little town in the Czech Republic; Litomysl. I am here now, preparing to deliver sessions on what is next for the YMCA Europe Roots for Reconciliation Peace Work Institute. a small, quiet peaceful town where we are planning the next sessions and programmes fro the next phase of the Peace Work Institute. The ideal setting for such discussions. Yesterday the planning team met to discuss this weekends session and those two to come in the future. Weary travellers arrived last night and now refreshed for the days ahead and with anticipation and excitement meeting old friends and new to discuss and present what is next for this project. Having been involved with the Peace Work Institute since 2012, this has been a long and educational journey for me where I have made good friends, new projects have stemmed from those friendships and now to see what happens over the next 2 years with the next phase. As the participants make their way to the library in the YMCA Europe training centre in Litomysl for the sessions to begin, the planning team make the final preparations and then we begin - the next phase.

European Youth Forum - Bulgaria and beyond

The final chapter of my trip to Varna, Bulgaria representing YMCA Europe as the official delegate to the European Youth Forum (YFJ). 

DISCLAIMER: this is more of a photo album than a blog.

Day 2 

It was a big day -  not for me - but for brave candidates that had put themselves forward to govern the YFJ. ELECTION DAY. Before casting our votes, we had an opportunity to attend thematic squares (workshops) and I chose to attend 'Migration and Health', subjects I'm very interested in and priorities that align with theme of the new YMCA Europe strategy. The workshop surpassed any expectations I had. We discussed the challenges in Europe around increasing migration and the health challenges faced by young refugees especially their mental health. We had a conference call with a World Health Organisation practitioner who gave us great insight into the issues and also how we can contribute to the solutions. 

Voting time!

YMCA and the Award 

The rest of the day as consumed by the elections. Congratulations to the newly elected board which includes our good friend from WOSM - Ville Majamaa and also a big congratulations to our Big 6 friend the Duke of Edinburgh International Award for becoming an observer member of the YFJ. 

Big 6 - WOSM, WAGGGS, YMCA, YWCA, IRFC & IAA

The day passed quickly and in evening one thing became clear, we needed to prepare ourselves for hearing one word 150 times....AMENDMENTS. The following day we would have to stand up in front of a lot of people and defend our amendments to the Resolution on EU Youth strategy and Work Plan 2017-19. I was not sure whether or not we were ready but the support we had was unmatched and spurred us on. 

Support group - Value Based Members 

Day 3 

We prepared and we were ready. We had 15 amendments in total aiming to ensure the language around increasing migration was not negative, YFJ worked closely with youth organisations and the papers had strong positions that would prompt action from the EU. I'm glad to report a good amount of our amendments were passed by the assembly and we achieved our goals. With the amendments behind us, both documents were adopted and the meeting was closed by some great closing speeches from the exiting board members. Things got pretty emotional, they were tears, standing ovations and laughter. It was great to see that people had really made a family out of the YFJ and we visibly saddened by the thought of having to leave the family.

Meeting closed, it was time to socialize and make the most of the evening. We shared an amazing evening with people that I can now call friends and I hope I will see them all again. 

Closing thought

During my time at the forum, I was exposed to many young organisations, national youth councils and political parties doing great work to advocate for young people across Europe. This made me reflect on our own organisation and one thing was clear. We are a huge organisation. We impact on the lives of a huge amount of young people. We speak up for millions of young voices. It is something I knew but took for granted. It has really inspired me to continue to work hard in my YMCA work and also empowered me to know that we are doing some really great work especially locally and should build on that. 

YMCA Youth Ambassador posts from Bulgaria

I'm in Varna, Bulgaria as the official delegate for YMCA Europe to the European Youth Forum along with Ana Sofia Abreu from YMCA Portugal. We are tasked with representing the position of YMCA as a full member of the YFJ with voting rights. We will engage in the amendment of the YFJ strategy and work plan, vote on new members and a new board for 2017-19. We will also have opportunities to gain more insight around the work of YFJ and other member organisation through workshops on migration, youth rights, youth advocacy and much more.

This was the view from my morning jog after a very long first day at the European Youth Forum (YFJ) General Assembly in Varna, Bulgaria. This is the only glimpse of the outside world I will most likely see so I'll savour it.

Our journey here was slightly tricky but we made the most of it, even allowing Ana to have the quickest tour London at midnight on our way from Heathrow to Luton. I was unsure about the scale of the Forum but once we arrived it became clear the importance and responsibility that we had be trusted with. After settling in the hotel, we were taken to a large venue in Varna where we received a keynote speech from an executive in the UNFPA on our part in delivering the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development. Very inspirational is an understatement.

Already overwhelmed, we were then lead to a “room” where 2000 people were waiting for us and received an almost Olympics style welcome. We were honorary  guests to the selection of the next Youth Capital, a prestigious award for a city working to empower young people. What then transpired was incredible (see images!). Performance after performance, with each one surpassing the last.

The next day marked the beginning of official  proceedings. Ana and I, being the newbies, were apprehensive to say the least but we have had amazing support from the many other youth organisations like the Scouts and Girl guides and of course Ilenia, Heidi and Tinna from YMCA Europe.We got our head around the online system, voted, listen, fought for our amendments and made some new friends. We watched a debate from all the candidates for the Presidency, Vice presidency and Board members. There is strong political machine at work and I hope we come out of it unscathed. We are make YMCA proud and represent them well and have already managed to get some amendments accepted after some gruelling debates and look forward to more. The day ended at 11pm and a cold Bulgaria beer in true YMCA fashion. We are thoroughly enjoying the experience and grateful for the opportunity to represent YMCAs across Europe to empower young people.

Bring on Day 2!

Planning for the New YMCA Global Strategy

Preparing for the YMCA Global Strategic Plan

Between the 31^st October and 4^th November 2016 some forty people from across the YMCA Global Family gathered in the YMCA Europe Training Centre In a little place called Litomysl in Eastern Bohemia, Czech Republic to begin to formulate the drafting a new strategic plan.

This new plan will build on the two previous plans and will cover the period from 2018 to 2022.

There were six participants from England. Jason Stacey, Richard Hughes and Ken Montgomery from YMCA England, Dave Ball from Thames Gateway in his role as Chair of the World Urban Network Terry Radcliffe from Blackburn YMCA in his role as Chair of the John R Mott Fund in Geneva and Gerald Chifamba, formerly of Coventry & Warwickshire YMCA. Gerald, who is a YMCA Youth Ambassador, is the joint lead globally on the YMCA Resource Group on Health.

The participants divided into groups to cover various areas of the draft plan.

These area included, The overall strategy, the element which covered, engagement, the development of buildings on major Cities across the world, the second phase of ‘One Million Voices’ Research, Communication and Fundraising.

I will not go into detail at this time but some of the highlights will include.

Key Focus of the future plan to be on ‘Youth Empowerment’.

Internally we will concentrate on ‘Movement Unity & Sustainability’.

Externally we will concentrate on ‘Collective Global Impact’.

There is some really exciting elements in the details such as the next period of the research concentrating on qualitative research, the possibility of the Harlem Globe Trotters getting involved the next World Challenge and recruiting the next cohort of the Global Change Agents.

The plan time scale is to go out to consultation across global movements during the next few months with the final strategy going to the World Council in 2018 in Chiang Mai Thailand. 

Putting youth empowerment at the heart of our research

It's 11.30pm and I'm currently sat on a train home from airport after having spent the last four days in Litomysl at the World YMCA Strategic Delivery Summit. So what better time to reflect on my experience.

What I believe makes us unique (and excites me most about being part of the movement) is the sheer scale of young people we work with, from all backgrounds and from across the four corners of the earth.

It was this simple recognition at a local level in England and Wales that gave us a reason for starting to undertake research just three years about. Since coming to this seemingly obvious but truly mindset changing realisation at YMCA England we've built our research offer and programme built on the voices of these young people.

For this reason the potential of One Million Voices 2 excites me (as I write that, I am fully aware that sounds very sad, only someone that works in research would get excited by hundreds of managed group discussions!!!). OMV2 will put young people's voices at the heart of the global movement's research for the first time.

But it was listening to Peter Burns (YMCA Victoria) and Johan Vilhelm Eltvik (World YMCA) that challenged me to think how we can go deeper and further with our research, both nationally and globally.

Peter spoke brilliantly about the importance of letting go of control in succeeding. A scary thought, but a necessary action to innovate and grow While Johan spoke at length challenging us how we make youth empowerment more than just a statement and actually about everything we done.

It was with these two thoughts buzzing around my brain (along with some wine and inspiring conversations with Ken), I got to to thinking about how we can do this in my day-to-day work. What does letting go and embracing the concept of youth empowerment practically look like?

I came to the conclusion it was going beyond just gathering young people's voices as we are doing now. Letting go and empowering young people is about them setting the issues we research, designing how this research takes place, presenting not just issues but also their ideas for solutions, and finally getting the research to those that matter (decision makers, influences and other young people) to affect change.

I shared this when talking about where we wanted to be as a global movement in 2044. But coming home today enthused (if a bit tired) made me think why should we wait that long. Why can't this be part of OMV2 and why can't this be part of our research programme for next year?

The answer is there is no reason!

YMCA Discovery Visit Australia

Time with Victoria Y - from the first day staff and volunteers at YMCA made every meeting and site visit, exciting and informative, I am taking so many ideas home with me to improve and make positive change. I am absolutely blown away by the sheer size of Y Vic with 116 sites and 6000 staff and impressively 50% being under 30 years old.

The evident passion to keep young people active and healthy through the wellness programmes is inspirational and close to my heart, especially interested in the recreation and leisure programmes offered by the Y, who keep thousands of children and young people active and engaged in numerous activities.

Kings swim and YMCA swimming lessons Is such an inspirational swim and water safe initiative, 55,000 participants access swimming lessons each week , wow . We learned 372,000 people in the world die every year through drowning with 95% being in Asia. Drowning is a preventive death and  Y Vic have really taken on the role of making access to swimming  lessons available in areas of Asia, determined to save lives. 

The time spent with the youth development team informed us of the many programmes delivered to young people and I was particularly interested to hear how they had Set up a building maintenance social enterprise, giving training and employment opportunities to young people leaving prison. A very successful enterprise with fantastic results in participants not re offending.

The time spent with Y Vic finished with us attending the annual general meetings and annual staff awards. A glamorous and enjoyable evening learning of the dedication and passion of the staff going that extra mile for what they believed believe in, helping others to succeed and be the best they can.

Saying goodbye to Victoria we moved on to YMCA Brisbane, the sun was out and we embarked on the second phase of the visit. lan Bray CEO and his team explained their approach to sustaining their operations to be unbreakable. We are Staying at the the George Williams hotel which is just one of the initiatives to income generate. I have to say the standards and professionalism at the hotel are very high and deserve a good trip advisor entry.

I applaud the "Head for business and heart of charity " as a strong approach to the new generation of the non for profit sector. To survive we have to change .

Today has been an unbelievable experience of learning , firstly at a YMCA school in North Lakes, accommodating 65 students needing an alternative to state education. Andrew and Stephanie at the school demonstrated the difference being made to young people who have experienced dramatic trauma in their lives who needed the additional support as well as education. Truly inspirational.

The afternoon took us to something unexpected and magical, Old Peitre Town , I can only describe as a Oz museum and fantastic venue for functions and weddings.

We were embraced by Terry, who explained the indigenous peoples  ways and got us involved tribal dance, music and art. To top it off a lesson in flying a boomerang. Some members of the team threw a good boomerang which actually returned, not me.

Posted on behalf of Anthea Clements - Barry YMCA

Discovering the wonders of YMCA Victoria

After a 24hr flight and arriving in Melbourne late on Sunday, Monday was pretty much consumed with jet lag, but the excitement of being on the other side of world kept me going so after touring the city on one of the oldest trams – something Melbourne is known for – I took myself off to the Melbourne Museum to see the First People’s exhibition.

First People's exhibition, Melbourne Museum

In recent years, the Australian Government has started to recognise the injustices inflicted upon Aborigines and many organisations have began to develop reconciliation strategies, including YMCA Victoria who start each meeting with an Acknowledgement of Country.

After managing to get about three hours sleep, the group were up bright, early and bushy tailed on Tuesday to visit YMCA Victoria’s central office. In our crisp white YMCA shirts, we certainly made an impression as we were welcomed by the lovely Ang, Manager of Global and Voluntary Services. As our host for the week, she made sure we were well looked after and couldn’t have been more helpful.

Suited and booted for our first day at YMCA Victoria 

The day included master classes from YMCA Victoria’s Services and Strategy Directors who took us through their approach. As a local YMCA with 6000 staff, they occasionally take the lead, working with YMCA Australia to develop the federation as a whole.

I was delighted to hear from Cinzia, Head of Engagement, who leads the brand team and spearheaded the Australian national rebrand.  The work they have done around segmentation, core messaging and brand awareness really enthused me and is something I’ll certainly be thinking about when we return.

After a full on day of presentations, and several cups of coffee, I was inspired but exhausted so after some delicious pasta in the Italian quarter, I attempted to get an early night.

Wednesday was all about youth services, a relatively small division of YMCA Victoria, which sits outside of their camping and recreation services. They presented some impressive projects, including Youth for Causes, a social enterprise programme for young people, and the hugely successful Youth Parliament programme which puts forward Bills to the Victorian government, such as the distribution of the morning after pill, which was recently passed.

Thursday was time to give back, so after three impressive sustainable project case studies – including unearthed, swim for safety and international camping – Gillian Sewell, CEO at YMCA Derbyshire, took the floor and gave a master class on social finance.

Both entertaining and informative, Gillian presented a thorough case study to YMCA Victoria about young residents who take part in a placement with key employers in the local area, resulting in enhanced employment opportunities.

The presentations took place at Carlton Baths, a centre run by YMCA Victoria on behalf of the City of Melbourne, which had an outdoor pool, fully equipped gym, café and various spaces to deliver activities.

It was interesting to see the City of Melbourne’s logo, which strangely resembled our new national brand! It was also exciting to see YMCA merchandise for sale, another thing I’ll be taking back to the UK.

YMCA branded merchandise and the City of Melbourne logo

After finally recovering from what I can only explain as ‘torture’, my sleeping pattern was back to normal and I was excited for the facilities tour which included a childcare centre and campsite – both key services delivered by YMCA Victoria on behalf of the local authority. The passion and dedication from the staff was prevalent and the sense of YMCA pride made me proud to be part of an amazing global movement.

After a dash back to the hotel to meet with marketing manager, Bec, we talked about our similar struggles and successes rolling out a national brand - another great global contact to add to my network and someone I’m sure to liaise with on a regular basis as we work together to raise awareness of YMCA locally, nationally and on a global scale.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have long to chat as we were expected at the YMCA Victoria AGM, followed by the Staff and Volunteer Awards. So after 15 minutes getting glammed up, we headed off.

Not knowing what to expect at the AGM, it was a slick affair and it is easy to see why the Chair, Anthea, who was stepping down, is loved and respected by all at YMCA Victoria. A natural public speaker and clear visionary, she has worked with YMCA Victoria over the past three years helping it become the dynamic organisation it is.

The AGM was swiftly followed by the awards and after some amusing and emotional performances, we heard about the amazing achievements of staff and volunteers, including a staff member who worked his sick colleagues shifts for months so he could continue getting paid.

Saturday was all about sightseeing and despite the torrential rain we visited the Hearsville Sanctuary and met Skippy the kangaroo. This was followed by some lunch, an informative wine tasting session and a trip to the chocolate factory.

Skippy the Kangaroo

After arriving back at the hotel, there was just enough time to pack and get ready for our flight to Brisbane the next day. With so much learnt and experienced, it’s hard to imagine what more I can take back, but I’m excited to see what YMCA Brisbane has planned for us – and of course get some sun. The weather in Melbourne has been shocking!

Jade Asije, YMCA England

Social impact Australian Style

Well it's the last full day in Melbourne with time to reflect on yesterday's (Friday) full on schedule with YMCA Victoria. I could begin my reflection by diarising the day, starting with a visit to one of their  childcare facilities where I met truly outstanding staff whilst learning about the Reggio Emilia style of nursery, a style I will certainly be exploring back home, or I could tell you about the amazing Camp we visited called Lady Northcote

where again learning will be drawn or I could talk about the YMCA Victoria's AGM or the outstanding, inspirational, sparkly, humbling, funny, tear jerking, team uniting, alcohol available! YMCA Victoria awards ceremony, all extremely beneficially with lots and lots to take back. However, I want to use this blog to tell you about my experience of Victoria YMCA , an inspiring YMCA true to its vision - "everyone can be healthier, happier and connected to their community; and help those who are not". They embody their understanding "together anything is possible". They believe in healthy living, empowering young people, social impact, youth justice, civil engagement , civil leadership and social enterprise. They challenge one another, they support each other and  they truly believe in the unity of the Y with the attitude knowledge is not power but a learning tool they are happy to share with others.

Many people look at "YMCA Discovery Visits" as a jolly, I experienced it as a privilege and opportunity to learn from world leaders in health and well being, youth empowerment, experienced sector leaders able to sustain and grow their organisation whilst walking the fine line of community access and sustainable development. I heard of their calculated risk taking, their monitoring and evaluation to ensure informed services, their determination to prevent drowning in Australia and Asia Pacific, their drive to assist developing countries through sustainable tourism, tourism such as YMCA Unearth in Cambodia. I am blown away by the fact 50% of their 8000 staff are under 30! I leave Victoria humbled by such a determined and united team and if I'm honest envious of their ability to continuously grow thorough sustainable and targeted development whilst employing and enabling young staff.

New gym programme and global initiatives

Discovery Visit Day 3

After 2 days meeting at YMCA Victoria office locations it was great to visit one of their centres - Carlton Baths in a suburb of Melbourne - and meet some of the staff there. Carlton is one of 7 large multipurpose leisure or 'rec' Centre's owned by local authorities in the state of Victoria and operated by the YMCA (or the 'Y' as they say here) on a lease. There is a big focus on 'aquatics' or swimming in what the Y does here. Carlton Baths is the name of the original open-air (I don't think you will find that in England!) public baths which have stood on the site for over a 100 years. The facilities have been expanded since then to include a fitness centre, sports hall, crèche and various multi-purpose rooms

We learned from this YMCA's Health and Wellness Strategy Leader, Troy, that just as in the UK over the last couple of years they have seen intense competition from 24 hour and budget gyms. They had also see competition from a range of High Intensity Training (HIT) physical programmes - many of them derived from one called Reebok Crossfit. As a result they have seen their membership levels dropping. In response to this they have developed their own high intensity trademarked programme called 'Adrenaline Hit' which they intend to licence to both YMCAs and other operators

Much of the day was spent learning about various global initiatives that YMCA Vic (Australian's seem to shorten everything) is involved in. It was amazing to discover what this YMCA was doing in this area, or space, and how they were aligning what they do with global YMCA initiatives. Much of this work seemed to have its origins in the YMCA World Council in Colorado in 2014, which I was privileged to attend, and to World Urban Network (WUN) conferences. Many of the people who presented to us had been to one or both of these and had come back inspired to make this YMCA more globally relevant

YMCA Vic is a massive organisation with a large workforce - over 6000 people. Many of these are casual workers and over 50% of them are under 25. It has learned from external research that a high proportion of young people (87%) expect their employer to provide international opportunities and is working hard to make this a reality. As a result they are developing peer to peer relationship with other YMCAs particularly within the Asia Pacific YMCA region and creating 3 month internship opportunities for many of their young staff with these YMCAs.  At the same time they are creating reciprocal internship opportunities in Victoria

We were given two other fantastic case studies of global initiatives:

YMCA Unearth

We learned from Linda that Y Vic has partnered with the YMCA in Cambodia to develop a volunteer tourism programme called 'YMCA Unearth' which is currently being piloted with Y staff and volunteers. Participants pay for a 2 week trip or holiday to Cambodia. Under this scheme not only do they get to see amazing tourist sights like the sun rising at the 8th wonder of the world, Ankar Wat, they get to be involved in some genuine volunteering opportunities as part of the work that YMCA Cambodia is doing. This project is a triple win: the travellers contribute through their volunteering in Cambodia, YMCA Cambodia receives a % of the cost of the, very good value, price they have paid for the holiday, the travellers return to Australia enthused by their experience and wanting to volunteer further for the YMCA 

Global drowning prevention

To

Tim Fallon

Visit to the Victoria YMCA’s Youth Social Enterprise Programmes.

Spent the morning with Jess, Paul, Ian and James looking at various aspects of the work of the Department.

Made to feel very welcome and were very open and honest inn outlining the challenges and opportunities for the work with young people.

They have five pillars of engagement: namely Youth Justice; Youth Development; Civic Engagement; Leadership and Social Enterprise.

The Department has a volunteer team of some 350 people who are recruited from universities, the website and word of mouth. This has $1 million of benefit in kind.

The work undertaken covers the whole of Victoria, however a major concentration is in Melbourne.

The work has a primary focus on empowering young people and encompass:

Youth Parliament: This programme runs annually in conjunction with the Victorian State Government’s office for Youth and has been running for almost 30 years. It involves 120 young people annually and issues are debated and Bills passed. Those passed are then forwarded to the Minister for Youth who in turn distributes them to the relevant Government Minister. Since inception 15 Bills passed from the Youth Parliament have become legislation with the State of Victoria.

Youth for Causes: This pilot programme introduces young people between 15 – 25 to social enterprise experiences. Teams of four to five young people are given $2000 to develop a social enterprise idea and bring this to life for another charitable organisation. The YMCA provides professional mentoring and support through workshops and webinars.

Youth Voice: The YMCA Is committed to listening to the voice of young people and have put in place a number of strategies to enable this. For example, there are two places on the Board of Victoria YMCA for young people under the age of 30. A young people’s strategic development team, consisting of young people has been set up whose primary role is advocacy and promotion. There are challenges such as how to hear the voice of young people in their recreation centres and the need to empower the wider staff team across the YMCA.

Centre for Empowering Young People: A new centre is soon to open that will provide a greater resource for programmes and opportunities that will support young people to reach their potential, lead change and be entrepreneurial.

Work is also undertaken in supporting young people involved in criminal justice system, mentoring programmes for disadvantaged youth and after school and holiday activities.

It was clear form the session that there is a huge commitment and passion to work with young people from across the social and economic spectrum.

We were hugely grateful to the staff team who gave their time to share the work they are undertaking.

Office of the National YMCA of Australia

I and two members of the delegation who happen to be National Board Members had the opportunity to visit the National office in Melbourne. We spent a short time, Stephen, with the newly appointed National Youth Empowerment Officer. Part of his role is to have a shared language and understanding of youth empowerment and how to assess the impact of this work.

He indicated that a lot of work had been undertaken by the YMCA of Los Angeles Youth Institute on this.

We then had the opportunity to meet with Melinda Crole, the interim Chief Executive Officer.

We explored a number of issues, including: 

Ø  There are 22 local associations with a combined annual turnover of $430 million (£270M)

Ø  The affiliation fee, as a percentage of turnover, paid by local YMCAs range from 0.15 to 0.20 and this makes up 85% of the income of the National Council.

Ø  The minimum affiliation fee is $10,000.

Ø  No staff from a local YMCA is permitted to be a member of the National Board.

Ø  Voting entitlement is tiered, with a cap of 15%

Ø  The have an 89% brand recognition with a far lower recognition of what the YMCA does.

Ø  15 years ago they started a process of licence agreements with local YMCAs which took 6 years to be fully implemented.

Ø  The licence agreement gives the National Council the right to intervene in a local YMCA in certain nationally agreed circumstances.

Ø  There is a fit for purpose programme in place covering financial sustainability, purpose and relevance and safeguarding.

Ø  The National Council has the authority to remove the name from a local YMCA.

Ø  The local YMCAs have doubled in size in the last ten years.

Ø  The Chair of the National Board has a key role in ensuring regular communication with the Chairs off local YMCAs.

Ø  Chairs of local YMCAs are brought together every six months.

Ø  The CEOs of local YMCAs are brought together every three months.

Ø  Governance training is a key role of the National Council

Ø  Local YMCAs are appointed as National champions for certain areas. YMCAs would be asked to bid for such roles.

Ø  Risk audits are undertaken of local YMCAs and these are now outsourced

We are indebted to Melinda for her frank and open responses to our unending questions and a phrase she used will remain with me:

 “We can no longer be debilitating polite”

Paul Smillie

Victoria YMCA first visit

Tuesday 18th October

Well,what a night for all the wrong reasons. Jet Lag has kicked in for many of the team with some being awake from 2am, myself from 4am. a hearty breakfast was no substitute for lack of sleep.

Today we spent the day discovering the Corporate workings of YMCA Victoria at the Copropate Office. We arrived there at 9.15am and were met by Ang and Lyndsay of Victoria YMCA. We introduced ourselves to the team and talked about our work in the UK.

Ang presented on "welcome to the Y" a presentation for new members of staff. strong acknowledgment of the country which is an understanding of the heritage of  indigenous people.

Y Victoria has 7 health clubs, childcare and holiday programmes, skateparks, swimming pools with a strong focus on community. "communities are better because we are in it".

Y Victoria impact: 160 locations with 6500 staff and 1500 volunteers.

The mission of YMCA Victoria is in three focus areas in Australia, Healthy Living, empowering young people and social impact.

Healthy Living: health and fitness, aquatics, camps

Empowering young people: advocacy, education, 

Social Impact: global work, evidence based work, 

Y Victoria does not own much of its real estate. it is leased via the Government or others.

Cinzia, Group Manager for engagement was the next to present to us. Her responsibility is for marketing, communicationss, engagement, brand, fundraising and digital.

She talked about their Father's Day fun run and brand campaign. A public facing event built on the fact that the YMCA invented Father's Day. It was promoted through camps, gyms, local media connecting staff to the event, building the experience on the day. A YMCA village on the day promoted the variety of services provided by the YMCA.

We then had a presentation from Greg Jennings - Acting CEO.

he focused on Mission Alignment - developing areas in childcare and camps.

One of the things which Greg mentioned was the purchase of a Private Swim School and how they have maintained the brand of the school which contributes to the possibility of a 'House of Brands' in the future. The school provides swimming lessons and preventing drowning.(King Swim).

Consideration is being given to whether the YMCA should brand some of their programmes differently to meet the programme users expectations.

Gerard Bolger - Corporate Planning and Performance

Gerard spoke about YMCA = business as usual + new work - stop doing stuff to do the new.
In relation to this he stated that they are always looking at doing more new things but when they ask what will we stop doing to facilitate  new things if was difficult to identify areas of work they would stop doing.

Bringing teams together to plan projects and then dispersing once it is launched.

We also heard from Lexi on the use of ITC in large organisations and the HR function challenges of running large organisations. 

So a long first day but lots of learning for all of us from the UK.

Early night for most and a hope of a good nights sleep.

Discovery Visit Australia

Yesterday evening I arrived into Melbourne Australia for this year’s YMCA Discovery.

Within the Federation of YMCAs of England & Wales we have a Leadership Development Strategy which enables Staff and Trustees to improve and develop their leadership to become excellent leaders within YMCA.

Currently Discovery visits are focused on CEO’s and Strategic Leaders of local YMCAs in England & Wales. We are currently exploring this to Trustees but more on that another day.

As YMCA we seek to capitalise on being a Global organisation and create opportunities for staff to travel to YMCAs in difference geographical and cultural locations to ‘discover’ what YMCA is doing in those contexts to deliver what is in effect our basic global YMCA Mission and how we interpreted that mission and values into the local needs of their communities.

As you can imagine, an organisation which is 173 years old, working in 119 countries and reaching 58 million people, YMCA is a rich and vibrant tapestry when you consider it as a global ecumenical Christian youth organisation.

So this year, there are eight of us on this discovery visit which will last ten days. There are four CEO’s in the group and four strategic leaders.

We will spend time in Melbourne and Brisbane engaging in presentations, discussions and visits to services.

Each day one of the group will post a blog on the experience of the day to both help participants reflect on what they are hearing, seeing and learning and communicating that to other readers of the this blog.

From here I hope you will enjoy and find informative, what is written during the next ten days.

My name is Gillian Sewell, CEO YMCA Derbyshire, Yesterday I embarked on my shared journey as a YMCA leader who has been given the privilege of going to Australia on a YMCA discovery visit.

As normal with the YMCA a group of individuals came together already as friends, why because we are YMCA. You never meet strangers in the YMCA you meet a friend you don't yet know!

Over dinner the group consisting of  one English, two scots, two Welsh and our wonderful Irish man who was in the hotel (there's a joke there somewher as we did go into a bar!), Came together for a meal.

Again with the YMCA especially when it's with fellow YMCA leaders who have the ability to be opinionated, discussions started to take place around our view of the YMCA. During this debate I realised something fundamental, in the YMCA we love  a good debate because there is an unspoken,  unwritten ground rule enabling us to feel safe and be free to debate; mutual respect!
We don't have to agree with each other, we don't even have to like what is being said but we always, always respect the other.

Having met my fellow travellers I awaken this morning thoroughly looking forward to spending time with my YMCA friends and look forward to meeting our Australian YMCA cousins after the dreaded 24 hour flight! Good bye Blighty hello Australia.

Gillian

Prepared?

so, as I sit on the sofa at home on Friday morning, I contemplate on the trip ahead. A number of questions arise. Do I have everything I need? What time is my train to London today? Have I done everything Ken has asked? Will this mini blog post? Really looking forward to spending time with colleagues and learning together on our discovery trip. Not looking forward to the long flights but needs must. Really excited to be meeting some of our international colleagues in Australia and leaning from them. Hoping that our contribution to them is helpful. Better get packing. 😀

YMCA Global Programme Innovation Camp

Post from Jerahl Hall YMCA Youth Ambassador - North Staffs YMCA

The Programme Innovation Camp in Switzerland offered many programmes from TenSing, Youth and Parliament, RGE (Environment) and lastly Savings and Investments. I was very much excited of the prospect of representing my YMCA on an international stage for the time, as well as my first trip to Switzerland!  

I arrived in Zurich, and searched for the Zurich YMCA, CEVI. Once I gathered my bearings from the little German I know I was able to search out Zurich base. On entering I was met with new faces that we're welcoming and helpful. For the official start we all gathered in a main hall, where we were pleasantly welcomed by Romulo and Adi, at this point I wouldn’t have thought I could have respected two people more as I did with these guys at the end of the camp. Anyway, we were told to introduce ourselves, our names, our countries and our YMCA's which we represent! The sheer diversity of the people there astonished me when people shouted out their countries; Kosovo, Bulgaria, Serbia, Portugal, France, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Moldova, Switzerland, Ghana, Cameroon, Tanzania, China, Norway, and many more. There were 23 countries represented!

We were told to get into groups of 5 or 6 to participate in a challenge that would take us around Zurich, the challenge involved finding locations around the city and pinpoint the pictures to the locations as well as the description, Mariela and Rezarta from Albania, Mathilde from Norway and Andrzey from Poland joined my group and we ventured around Zurich.

 

When we arrived back it was time to move to the base for the week, we all marched out of the YMCA Zurich like a mini battalion to the main station, leaded at the time by Dynamo (a YMCA scout from Switzerland). We arrived at the station and boarded a train, oh and by the way it was double decked, I couldn't hide my excitement! A double decked train WOW! Small things eh. An hour later we arrived in our location, a small town outside of Ebnat-Kappel, a bus awaited us and took us up hills and winding roads, the sky was dark and the stars just bright enough to shine through the buses interior lights, all of our curiosities had already peaked, we wanted to see what the view was like but we knew we had to wait until the morning. We arrived at camp and immediately set tables out and picked beds, the time was late and after short messages from the facilitators we had the time to talk amongst ourselves, at first my fellow compatriots engaged in conversations with me and after welcoming each other it was time for bed

The first day of camp: I woke up, still feeling groggy from the long day previously. I went to the main hall for breakfast, looking out the window revealed why our curiosities were firing on all seven cylinders, WHAT A VIEW! These hills and mountains in Switzerland are amazing this was definitely the place where God played with nature.

   

We started each day with as devotion that was led by Romulo, which led us to a few ice-breaker style games. We all then moved into our groups, the youth and parliament group contained my fellow YMCA Englanders, Bulgarians, Armenians, Philippines, Romanian, and Ghanaian!! We were invited to understand how youth parliament works in one of its most successful countries, Australia and YMCA VICTORIA to be more specific, we had an excellent facilitator in Emily Greco who told us everything of the programmes and fully made it enjoyable throughout. We learnt how to set the programme up and how to hopefully implement it within our own respected nations, how to create legislation and bills, how to debate and governmental chamber etiquette. Luckily Australia works with the Westminster style of parliament, so it was easier to grasp!

After a full days learning with the programme, we had tea and discussed the hike that we would later do. Before the hike, we were told to partner up and answer questions that were given to us to share and gain knowledge of each of our own YMCA's. As we walked on a road the off road track became clear as we turned right up a hill, we climbed and climbed, our cheeks puffed and puffed with air as the gradients increased and my whole bottom half of my body started to heat up! We came to the top to be greeted with an even greater view from the one I witnessed earlier in the morning! The hike continued for a further 2 hours where we conversed through another 2-3 questions, we passed some cows with some traditional bells around their necks, stereotypical Switzerland in my eyes. We waited for the people at the back, at the top of the hill that would make for our descent back to camp. As we waited we played a few team bonding games which one of them I fell right on my backside, I clearly didn’t take into account the wet grass.

 

We got back to camp and straight away everyone got changed from their hiking gear into something comfy, whilst all being downstairs us YMCA Englanders played a game of heads up, which involves a charades like format on an iPhone app, as soon as one of our overseas colleagues saw us playing, minute by minute half of the room at least caught the buzz and came to play with us, to the point where it was a shout fest trying to describe the answers to the person who guessed the song, movie, famous person etc. This was the perfect ending to the perfect first full day!

Thursday sprung on us all and the sun was still shining bright over us and the Swiss mountains; we were treated to a traditional Swiss breakfast, some kind of mixed muesli with fruit and other things! Anyway we started the days schedule like the day before with devotion from Romulo, and some organised fun singing games which were all really fun. The best way to start the day!

The days programme picked up proper where we created our own bill, and debated it with the 'opposition'. After the programme work we ate and I took the opportunity to take a group photo with all the members of YMCA Kosovo, they have for sure left a mark on my heart! Love those guys! By 9pm we all got called over into the fringe of the nearby woods that surrounded us, it meant only one thing CAMP FIRE! We all sat around and played some music, shared some thoughts and ate hot bananas, yes, hot bananas that had been stuffed with Nutella. We all sang acoustically, I even gave a rendition of a Bob Marley song....which I murdered. Victoria from France got the guitar out and sang one of her own songs and wow it was memorable, meaningful and downright wonderful is the best words I could use to describe her performance!  The camp fire gave us all a time to reflect on the experience so far and what we as a YMCA stand for, not only for our communities but for the youth of today all around the world.

Friday normally means -happy Friday- for me, the week is nearly over and a new one is near to begin. This time round however, I was not so happy with the thought that time was nearly up with these guys in Switzerland, did I need to come back? Yes. Did I want too? I'm sure you know what my answer is. We started the day like the previous two with devotion and some little activities to get us all ready for the day, Romolu came with this great popcorn song game, it was great. Emily also came with a game all the way from Australia, and Adi with a game called trolls, Giants and wizards which is like rock, paper and scissors but with teams. 

Anyway Friday meant discussing in my innovation group how we are going to try and implement such a programme in our countries, we set up a plan and fingers crossed it can be achieved. We ended the scheduled afternoon with a rendition of the lion king song from the tensing group. They were awesome. I also learned how to do origami from Alvin (Hong Kong) who was a facilitator in the RGE group!

The afternoon ended with a couple more inspiring questions from Adi that gave us all the chance again to share and tell about our local or national practices as well as personal/professional development, Adi told us to get into groups. I remember telling myself I have spoken to every person bar one over the entirety of the camp, how I let this happen still baffles me, however, I made it my mission to sit next to him as we heard our first question. We spoke and answered the questions, myself and Kristian from Serbia then introduced ourselves personally. He told me that he was glad we got the chance to speak as he had the same thought as me that it was crazy that we didn't converse at all before. After the questions had finished we had a spare hour before Tea, the weather had turned for the worse with rain hitting down hard on all the windows. Kristian said he was going for a run, I took the opportunity to join him and off we went in the rain around the hilly region that was home for the week. Everyone thought we were mad, my reply “I'm English, I’m used to this kind of weather especially rain”.

I was excited for tonight as tonight was the cultural night, where everyone brought some food, drink or national dress from their respected countries and showcased it in the main hall! There were some great foods from fondue from Switzerland, spicy 'dragon' sausage from Serbia, marmalade chocolate from Estonia, cured meats from Eastern Europe, sweets and biscuits from Hong Kong, Philippines and England. The cultural night gained momentum after tea with everyone beautifully dressed in their national clothes. I probably soaked in more culture on this night than any a time in my life. National games and dances came out where we all got involved, we presented them with a strange rendition of ‘hokey cokey’ which went down well, more so than I thought to be honest. Still we added something to the night.

I simply didn't want the night to end; I knew what was to come in the morning. In small groups dotted around the hall, we all spoke until we couldn't stop ourselves from yawning every 10 seconds, 2am and bed was calling. WHAT A DAY, what a night!!!

SATURDAY

Here it was, the dreaded day! We had breakfast earlier so to as give us time to pack up and clean up! We gave a huge THANK YOU to the scouts for everything they have done, from cooking for us, cleaning and making everything just perfect! We gave them a standing ovation, and that I thought still wasn't enough to show our appreciation. They were just simply outstanding. We all got into teams and cleaned the whole site; I was in the team that cleaned the bunks! Everybody waited outside as the final bits of cleaning was being done. We carried on playing games, and football whist we waited. The Bus came, I was in bus 1 so was leaving first; I hugged everyone I could in the time I had. I wanted to bring them all back with me. Joe, Hannah B and Hannah P from England and me shared a unique bond; we became best friends as such in just a short space of time. I just hope I keep my promise when I said to everyone individually, I will see you all again very soon! I got on the bus and headed for the airport. My flight wasn't until another 5 hours as was the case with the Serbian duo. We decided to carry on with our adventure and re-entered Zurich city center as it was 10 minutes away on the train. Away we went, we hired bikes which are free in Zurich and we had a little tourist excursion in and around the city whilst looking for gifts to take home.

With those guys I have never laughed so much, 5 hours later we were all checked in and awaiting our flights back home. It was mine to depart first, again I had to say goodbye. They walked me to my gate and saw me off. I felt like I was saying bye to family. I was saying bye to family!

After a little stop in Frankfurt I made it back home to Stoke.

I look back now to the week I had, it is by far the best thing I have done in my 7 1/2 years with the YMCA! It's got me; it's hooked me for sure, without sounding to cliché. I can't wait for more!!!

Posted on behalf of Jerahl Hall