News & Events
Wed 1st May 2013
Thu 28th Mar 2013
Fri 1st Mar 2013
Fri 8th Feb 2013
Tue 5th Feb 2013
Tue 5th Feb 2013
Tue 22nd Jan 2013
Wed 9th Jan 2013
Our tenants say...
"I am very happy with this opportunity in which the YMCA has given me. If I wasn't living here, I don't see that I would have got the same chance on my own." (Molly, November 2012)"Thanks Colchester YMCA, I now have my own place, a puppy and soon work as an art teacher volunteer. You mean a lot to me, I hope you're all ok and I will visit. You all helped me." (Sara, former resident)
"Before I moved into the YMCA I was very quiet and not very confident. During the two years that I have been here I have gained confidence and self-esteem. I have made new friends and the YMCA is like my home. Everyone here is like family to me, the staff and tenants. I have watched many people come and go and I am sad to be leaving as the YMCA is the only stable home I have had. The staff have always helped me and listened to me if I have ever had a problem or just needed someone to talk to." (Yasmin, November 2011)
"I've been living at the YMCA for a year now. I'm twenty, an irregular carer for my grandmother and I'm lined up for volunteer work currently. I'm involved in the National Residents' Forum and this has given me the opportunity to meet other young people at YMCAs across the country and this has helped me express concerns and flex my conflicting opinions. I'm also a regular at our ‘Come Dine with Me' gatherings, which have taught me a lot of life skills as well as ways to get free food out of people. There are things the YMCA provides to its tenants that a thousand KPI forms won't show you. Being here has helped me develop as a person. I've made friends; I've been able to accept myself for what I am, I've been able to build bridges over family troubles and most importantly I've been able to be myself for the first time. I was shy, timid and depressed when I first came through those doors and now even I can't recognise myself." (Nick, November 2011)