Inspiration & Creating Change

I cant possibly start this blog post without mentioning our defeat in the World Cup last night. As much as it was disappointing, watching the game with YMCAs from across England & Wales created a real sense of unity as we were collectively rooting for England. This made me think that this is similar to all YMCAs working towards the same mission to Empower our youth for good.  It was an experience I will never forget.

Day 4 of the conference started with our group sessions. I know i may be bias but I have been blessed with a wonderful group who are equal parts passion and drive. Today we started by discussing those that we have met through the YMCA that have inspired us. This posed quite the conundrum as so many people have inspired me during my time at YMCA Birmingham.
My managers and colleagues have always believed in me, encouraged me to progress and have the confidence to try new things.
I have been completely inspired by my group at the world council. We have all shared amazing stories about our YMCA and have many similarities regarding our mission to Empower. I have been humbled by the difficulties that some YMCAs face yet the drive and compassion to support their communities, does not waiver. It has made me appreciative and inspired me to want to work more closely with other YMCAs to ensure we are able to achieve the biggest impact.

We also discussed how important it is to ensure we maintain contact and we have even discussed visiting other YMCAs to share our particular expertise.

I am excited to announce that we have created a WhatsApp group in order to maintain contact and continue our conversations after the conference. We will all be returning to our YMCAs to share best practise we have learnt. We want to encourage inter-YMCA communication at all levels. We spoke about owning who you are and what you know and sharing this.

I was also fortunate to pin trade during the group...which I love doing and was gifted a Bombay YMCA t shirt. I love a souvenir!

 

After group sessions we attended the 'Our Journey Together' and the partnership forum. This was regarding the partnership with YMCA and the Harlem Globetrotters. The presentation was brilliant and what I learnt is that they too have a mission much like the YMCA to Empower people. I especially liked that there is an awareness of gender equality and now one of their most popular stars is a woman. Howard Smith said that they aim to 'create memories worth repeating'. This really resonated with me. To top it off we listened to the stars and how the ymca impacted on their lives in a positive way. I believe we do not always know the impact we can have...it does not necessarily take an army to bring about a positive change. 

The icing on the cake was a sweatband...remember I love a souvenir. 

We have been working hard on our presentation...now I won't be giving away any spoilers, but we believe our presentation is symbolic of what we are trying to achieve. Watch out for group 14! 

One of my favourite parts of the day is when we get to meet and network with other YMCAs. I find it very powerful and inspiring to listen to others and it spurs me on and makes me proud to be a part of the YMCA movement. This is also a fabulous opportunity to pin trade. 

Would you get the offer of free hugs at any other world council...i don't think so!

The final forum I attended today was Movement Strengthening...specifically about our mission. I left there thinking about why I do the work that I do, why my YMCA does the work that we do. The answer is that we have the drive and determination to make a positive impact on the youth we work with. 

Group 14 #DreamTeam

I cannot wait to get back to my YMCA and share all the ideas I have. This has been a truly inspiring experience, I have a renewed desire to become involved in more campaigns, to build strong networks and to better the work that I do. 

I believe everyone should have the opportunity to attend a world conference. 

Thank you 

Adele Biddle