A Year Review – Our Community back doing what it does best
As we wrap up another year, we thought we’d take a look back – and wow what a year it’s been at YMCA Plymouth!
2022 saw us return from the past 2 years of lockdowns, back to what we do best; learning, getting active, playing and supporting our community, together. Here’s our summary of the year across our work areas:
2022 in Education & Training
Our Discovery College saw the return of our first whole-college graduation day since 2019, with students celebrating their incredible success after a challenging couple of years. We also saw the launch of our My Future mentoring scheme, helping to inspire our young people with volunteer mentors from businesses across Plymouth.
Joining forces with Plymouth City Council and some of the city’s top businesses, we also ran LaunchPad Live,the region’s biggest careers fair for young people.
Finally, Discovery College was proudly awarded a GOOD rating by Ofsted after a very thorough process. The report included brilliant feedback from inspectors about our college and its fantastic outcomes for young people.
2022 in Health & Wellbeing
Within our fitness provision, we’ve welcomed hundreds of new members to our new gym, which saw even more kit being added this year. We launched new classes such as Queenax RigFit and HIIT – adding to the hugely increased class timetable since the opening of our immersive cycle studio.
Additionally, we were excited to roll out our new Member of the Month and Member Loyalty Award schemes, rightly celebrating our fantastic members and their achievements.
2022 in Family & Youth Work
For our families, we opened our new Plymouth-themed Ocean City Soft Play area for ages 0-7. The new area, alongside our brand-new bouncy castles for kids’ birthday parties, now makes our centre one of the top destinations in the city for young families to visit and have fun.
2022 in Other Improvements
Across our centre, we saw plenty of improvements, adding to the major refurb works in 2021. This included launching our improved cafe area with Bill’s Boys Bistro and resurfacing our outdoor 5-a-side court with a new hybrid Astroturf. Plus, our Pledge 2 Paint scheme saw businesses giving their time to spruce up, repaint and refloor many areas of our building, such as Sports Hall 1, Classrooms, Studios and our corridor spaces.
Looking ahead to 2023
As we look to 2023, we can’t wait to continue the positive momentum throughout our work. Our Provide to Plymouth campaign is set to support our most vital services for vulnerable people thanks to the support of local businesses, in what will be another challenging year for many families.
Further works in our centre will include the refurbishment of the stairwell leading to our Bistro and Immersive Cycle Studio, along with the repair of its roof getting underway soon. Much more is also planned for what will certainly be another great year for our YMCA community – we can’t wait to share it with you and continue the positivity thanks to your support!
Other News
Our fitness prices are getting locked down!
It’s that time of year again when we start looking at getting back into our fitness routines. Whether you are an existing member or considering joining this January we want to give you the reassurance that our prices will stay affordable. That’s why we’re committing in 2023 not to increase our monthly fitness membership prices.
All gyms and leisure centres typically increase prices from April in line with inflation and costs. However, despite the pressures, we are committed to ensuring our services remain affordable for our community, whilst still maintaining our standard as one of the best fitness facilities in Plymouth.
If you’re not a member yet then check out our website to see what we offer, plus we’re offering no joining fee for a limited time when you join today!
Learn more
Free SEND sessions starting soon at our Ocean City Soft Play
We are delighted to announce that from this January we will be running special SEND sessions in our Ocean City Soft Play area!
These sessions will be free of charge for all children with Special Educational Needs and Disability and are capped at a reduced capacity than our normal sessions.
Sessions will run each Friday at 3.30pm starting from 6th January 2023.
All children booked into these sessions must have a Special Educational Need or Disability and be accompanied by a parent/guardian as per our normal sessions.
Sessions must be booked in advance on our website and will be available to book from 30th December.
Come to an Open Day at Discovery College
Year 11 students are now starting to make their minds up about next year and our Discovery College will be opening its doors for these students to show off our award-winning College and vocational course offering.
The next open day will be held on 1st February 2023 and you can now register to attend on our website.
Learn about the future careers landscape for your children
Do you have a child at school and want to know what the jobs of the future that they’ll be stepping into will look like? Then come along to our free information evening for parents hosted at Plymouth Argyle!
The event will include presentations and stalls from top local businesses and industry experts, giving you the knowledge to help and support your child on their future career journey.
Find out more and sign-up
Essential aid from YMCA gets provided to those in need this Christmas
This month we are proud to have supported huge numbers of local families through donations of food, clothing and direct financial aid to help with their energy bills.
This aid was distributed thanks to our Discovery College team and other staff working with various vulnerable groups through our services.
Funding came from the Plymouth City Council and Department for Work and Pensions’ Household support fund. To help us continue support like this, please consider joining our Provide to Plymouth campaign.
Happy New Year
Lastly, as we see in the New Year, we’ll leave you with a little poem written by our talented Fundraising Lead, Sarah Newberry.
Happy New Year!
From all of us here
To our friends and our members
Whom we hold very dear
Now you’ve enjoyed the season
With plenty to eat
You’ve possibly not even
Got out of your seat
So now it’s time
To visit the gym
To get healthy and happy
And even get slim!
Come visit our soft play
Where the kids can run free
Or visit the bistro
For a nice cup of tea
Exercise classes
Activities galore
Check out the website
It will tell you much more
Whatever you do
Work, rest or play
You will find what you need
At the YMCA
—
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