Individuals, churches and businesses from across the city joined YMCA Exeter for a special cream tea event, thanking them for their generous support to the charity over the past year.
On Tuesday 7th May, 50 guests visited our residential centre to hear about our continued impact as well as tour the supported accommodation we provide to 31 previously homeless young people on St David’s Hill.
Guests included donors, volunteers, partner churches and local businesses. They were treated to a cream tea kindly donated by the Hampton by Hilton hotel and listened to a performance of four songs from our resident singing group, The Nameless People. The performance included a cover of ‘Hallelujah’ and ‘Stand by Me’ as well as a piece written by the group on a recent song-writing course.
Our President, The Right Revd Robert Atwell, Bishop of Exeter, then gave a short speech and called guests to bring to mind the YMCA ethos of supporting young people in ‘body, mind and spirit’. He emphasised the responsibility on us all to champion young people’s mental health as a fundamental element of their whole wellbeing and personhood.
Our Joint CEO Gareth Sorsby shared the vision for our new mental health service which seeks to build resilience in our young people, teaching them coping strategies as well as building their support networks to stand by each other in their struggles.
Our Fundraising Manager, Bethan Spencer, then talked about the generous contributions that Friends of YMCA continue to make and how they are vital in us developing young people’s body, mind and spirit.
To find out more about making a monthly donation and becoming a Friend of YMCA Exeter please follow the link here.
