Congratulations to Drew Cooper, who was awarded the highest honour at the YMCA England & Wales Youth Matters Awards on Friday 2 November. Hundreds of staff, volunteers, and young people from YMCAs all over the country convened for this annual awards ceremony. From YMCA Derbyshire, Claire Ragg was there to support our finalist Drew Cooper along…
Pick a day that best suits your business, school, college or community group, invite everyone to wear a Christmas jumper and make a suggested £1 donation. Christmas and New Year can often be a lonely and challenging time for young people living in supported housing. This is why every year, we ask the local community…
Our annual celebration event is a chance for young learners, residents, staff and supporters to come together to celebrate the achievements of our young people and supporters from the past twelve months. This year’s event took place on Friday 5 October and was led by Chair Mary Gordon. Congratulations to all of our winners below,…
The Foyer Federation’s annual Spark Awards took place on Thursday 4 October, where a trio of awards were presented to YMCA Derbyshire for inspiring work with young people in the local community. From the five shortlisted entries, YMCA Derbyshire was proud to pick up ‘Best Partnership Award’ for its established sports programme with Derby County…
#IAMWHOLE PRESENTS / WHOLE HOUR This World Mental Health Day, YMCAs across the country are encouraging people to take a WHOLE HOUR for themselves. Each year an estimated 20% of children and young people worldwide experience mental health difficulties. We believe that no young person, no matter who they are, what their background is, or…
YMCA Key College is proud to launch ‘Project Alfie’, where we’re seeking local employers to partner with us and help create opportunities for our young people to experience the world of work. What does being a Project Alfie partner mean? • YMCA Key College students, accompanied and supported throughout by a member of staff, will…
We are proud to announce that our YMCA Key College is now offering MHFA England’s internationally recognised course in Youth Mental Health First Aid. It’s a two-day course and participants are fully certified on completion. Young people are struggling with poor mental health. Causes include; academic pressure, social media, bullying, poverty and a lack of availability of…
In collaboration with Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, and thanks to funding from the Tesco Bags of Help scheme, a garden has been imagined and created at Harrington Nursery School in Derby. Work started on the garden in June 2017, where the first task was to manually shift 50 tonnes of top soil onto the site. In boiling…
We are pleased to have been awarded the Quality For Health Level 2 award, demonstrating our commitment to continuous improvement and putting service users at the centre of our services. This award is a quality assurance system for groups and organisations delivering health and wellbeing services. Kate Gillespie, Head of Accommodation and Support Services at YMCA…
A project launched earlier this year in collaboration with St Osmund’s Church in Derby aims to challenge stereotypical views in the local community. ‘All Ages Together’ (AAT) aims to bring people together who wouldn’t ordinarily meet, for fun and friendship and in the process to build bridges across the age divide. Similarly to our monthly free…
