October 01, 2006
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100 Years Young! A Birthday to Remember!
Over the weekend of 22/23/24/25th September, Romford YMCA celebrated its 100th birthday and it was a weekend never to be forgotten (not least for the staff who put so much hard work and effort into it!) The weekend kicked off in style on the Friday evening when we hosted a dinner for 130 guests. Our guest list comprised of both the Mayor of Barking and Dagenham (Cllr Dee Hunt) and the Mayor of Havering (Cllr Wendy Brice-Thomas), Cllr Georgina Galpin (Deputy Mayor – Havering), Andrew Rosindell – MP for Romford, Bishop Roger Sainsbury, along with many local councillors , long serving staff and volunteers, a no of residents and local business people, a really eclectic mix! The evening got off to a tremendous start when both Mayors kindly switched on the external lights that will illuminate our building during the evenings from now until the end of the year, the idea being that people will look at us again in a new light! From there it was into our sports hall which had been magnificently transformed for the evening to savour the sumptuous meal that had been prepared by our very own catering Manager and her team, we have received many compliments about the evening, but the majority were to congratulate us on the superb standard of cuisine! Speeches from Dave Ball our Chief Executive and Michael Eastman O.B.E our president followed the meal and then it was onto the entertainment for the evening from the Y’s group, our very own home grown cabaret group who delighted the audience with songs from the west end shows! All in all the evening was deemed to be a huge success and a splendid way to start our celebrations.
On Saturday 23rd our celebration continued with a Thanksgiving Service held at Romford Baptist Church, and what a joyous occasion it was, we had an address from bishop Roger Sainsbury, regarding the importance of listening to the voices of youth, our Chief Exec Dave Ball talked about how the Church needs to move with the times and adapt to accommodate the needs of Christians and how the YMCA plays a part in that. We also had readings from Nick Lipscomb a teenage volunteer, Anne Brind one of our special needs volunteers who herself has a disability, Emanuel Bernado one of our residents and Jacob Adeymi who is one of our hostel support workers. We had the privilege of being entertained by a teenage group called W.A.I.T who promote the prevention of AID’S and unwanted pregnancy through the abstinence of sexual relationships until in a committed relationship. They spread their message through the performing arts, and they gave a fabulous rendition of Amazing Grace performed a beautiful dance routine, and gave a rousing rendition of R.E.S.P.E.C.T.
Our final hymn was ‘We are marching in the light of God’ when a cascade of balloons were set adrift from the mezzanine floor, the children involved thought it fantastic!! As did the grown up who were energetically trying to keep the balloons aloft!!
All in all it was a very special and memorable occasion giving thanks to God, reflecting on all aspects of the work carried out here, and involving all ages and abilities.
But the fun didn’t stop there! On Sunday 24th September, we opened our doors to the world and had an Open day! Inviting anyone and everyone to take a closer look at what goes on here. Every department showcased themselves, and whilst we have many members who use our fitness facilities on a regular basis, many were unaware of the other work that goes on here, and so were keen to take a tour of the building, some looked at residents rooms and talked about what it is like to live here, our Childcare team did a great job, not just with painting faces and offering free bouncy castle (and our new assault course) rides but also offering information about our breakfast/ after school and holiday activities, not to mention our fab birthday parties and our monthly night club for children (Cyberia). Our fitness team hosted a twelve hour RPM challenge, raising money for special needs equipment in our gym, they also put on a number of activities for children. One of the activities involved the use of our sportswall, and as you can see from the photograph it inspired Deputy Mayor Cllr Georgina Galpin to get involved!!!
Our aim of increasing awareness in the community of what we do was achieved, and was so successful it is likely to become an annual event. However, you are always welcome to walk through our doors and take a closer look, and will always be given a warm welcome, we look forward to seeing you.
And last (but not least!) we closed our weekend with our Annual General Meeting, it was slightly unusual in that we had Dee Hunt Mayor of Barking and Dagenham with us, along with one or two international guests. Along with the usual AGM Business we presented our new promotional Perception v Reality video (which you can view from this web site – please do!!!) and a ‘live link’ to Thailand so that James and Ellie the presenters of the video (two of our young volunteers who are currently touring the globe) could introduce the film themselves. We actually taped James and Ellie prior to them leaving for their trip on the field at the back of the building!, we cut the sound where questions were put to them, and just put the questions to them on the tape on the night! About 90% of our audience believed that we had managed to link up with Thailand! It was a great spoof and much appreciated by all. Vikki Bainsfair our Junior Sports Manager and Harry Smith a 17 year old volunteer spoke of their experiences here, and were so impressed you can find their speeches have been published on this site, do take a look. And so the end of our meeting marked the end of our birthday celebrations, a weekend in which we had tremendous fun, gave thanks, and shared with all the love, life and work of Romford YMCA.
Click Here to Read Anne Brind's Address at the Thanksgiving Service
Click Here to Read Viki Bainsfair's Address at the AGM
Click Here to Read Jack Smith's Address at the AGM
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