Our History

The Young Men’s Christian Association was founded in 1844 by George Williams. In 1865 a Committee was set up to consider establishing a Swansea branch of the YMCA and right from the start James Livingstone, a prominent figure in Swansea became heavily involved.

Swansea YMCA came to life in 1866. The work flourished from the outset and within a relatively short time, the new organisation became a reality and its headquarters were established in Herbert Place. However, after nearly fifteen years and increase in the number of members, the YMCA outgrew the building they were located in and moved to Dynevor Place in 1881.

Activities provided at this time included various educational classes, a debating society, shorthand tuition, and bible study groups, sports such as football, cricket and gymnastics. In the evenings the Llewelyn Hall was utilised for events which combined popular entertainment with learned lectures and presentations in cultural activities such as music and art.

With huge growth in the number of members, the YMCA outgrew its premises in Dynevor Place. In 1911 the Management Committee secured the freehold to Longlands Hotel, with a view to demolishing and replacing it with a new building which could meet the escalating demands being made upon the YMCA organisation. Longlands Hotel was situated on the corner of Page Street and St Helens Rd, where it still operates from today and was designed by local architect Glenn Moxham.

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To raise the necessary funds they held a lightening campaign – their aim was to raise £12,000 in just twelve days, George Rankin, fundraiser for the UK YMCA’s was engaged to direct the campaign.

They had an unusual method in collecting money – sixteen teams made up of eleven in each team to “forage” for pledges – all were young men involved with the YMCA and the teams adopted names such as “Excelsior’s”, “Hustlers” and the “Try Hards” After twelve days the teams had raised a staggering £3,054, creating a new record for such a task. The Try Hards raised the most - £474 with the largest single sum being £10. This involvement of ordinary people in the fund-raising process, not only resulted in an extremely useful contribution being made to the total, it ensured that the young people felt they had played an important part in the process. They acquired a site in the town centre where they displayed a huge poster, made up of 240 sections, which made a mural of the proposed building. For every £50 raised a section was added to the mural.

In the YMCA Review 1912 it was stated “the young people who had worked so hard to achieve the agreed objective should be conscious that their efforts would find permanent expression in the building that would stand for generations to come”.

Within twelve months of its opening, the building was requisitioned for the Red Cross as an emergency Hospital for the wounded service men in the 1914 – 1918 War. The YMCA continued to function during this time but activities were limited, as most of the young men had joined the forces.
In 1919 the YMCA returned to the building with renewed vigour and inaugurated many activities. In the early thirties came the years of depression and once again the YMCA met the needs of the day. Several rooms were set aside to train the unemployed in various trades. There were unemployed classes of over 100 in each class meeting twice a week; Musical Afternoons were held in the Llewellyn Hall, the Library and Billiard Room were also available.

Once again in 1939 the country was in the throes of another World War. The Medical Board requisitioned the Llewellyn Hall as well as some other rooms – but each night the building was full to capacity with service men of all races. The BLITZ! Yes, if it were not for the careful watch of those on duty day and night the YMCA would have gone the way of many other buildings in the town which were destroyed by enemy action. In one night, fifteen incendiary bombs were dropped on the flat roof. It is due to the fact that the building survived the Blitz that it is now a Grade II Listed Building.
From the 1950’s onwards the YMCA has delivered a programme of activity based upon the needs of the community. It has seen many changes and as a registered charity continues to strive to meet the needs of the people of Swansea.

The organisation is based in the heart of the Swansea City Centre on The Kingsway, in a Communities First area, and owns a substantial Grade II listed building offering approximately 3,000m2 over 4 Floors. Working in partnership to improve the quality of life for local people, Swansea YMCA provides over 30 activities per week ranging from ballet to martial arts, support services including training and employment programmes for NEETs and an economic inactivity project supporting the BME community; is visited by over 1,600 per week and currently houses 6 tenants, providing support services for local people. Swansea YMCA operates as a social enterprise where over 90% of its turnover is income generation, and is heading towards self sustainability for 2010/11. It currently employs 12 people and works with over 20 volunteers.

The YMCA operates 6 days per week and delivers a varied programme of services to 1,600 people per week. We have a well established Community Education Programme that focuses on both children, young people and adults, which aims to be fully accessible, friendly and affordable. The main aim of this provision is to work locally to improve peoples’ quality of life through learning and participatory activity that will also impact upon their health and well being. This work has a long tradition at the YMCA and in 2008 we provided activity to 12,084 attendances in our community education programme alone. Participants range from the age of 3 years to 87.

The key driver behind our work is to improve peoples’ quality of life and act as a community focus where everyone receives a friendly welcome in a supportive environment. As a business we aim to provide a low cost quality service which is accessible to everyone and is self sustaining.

Registered Charity:
No. 250990