YMCA Gisborne Inc — known locally simply as the Y — is a community organisation at the corner of Roebuck and Childers Roads in Gisborne, New Zealand. Part of a worldwide movement founded in London in 1844, the Gisborne association dates back to 1880 and today runs programmes spanning early childhood care, education, fitness, food, youth development and family support, all guided by its mission to build strong kids, strong families and strong communities.
Many locals know the Y for its Y Fitness Centre, with Les Mills and group fitness classes and published timetables, but that is only one part of the picture. The Y also runs the Y Kids community early childhood centre, which cares for up to 50 children a day, the bilingual Y Tamariki centre in Kaiti, the Y Trades Training Centre and alternative education programmes, the Y KAI food service with its school term menu, Y OSCAR afterschool and holiday programmes, youth programmes, a community stadium and supervised contact services.
The Y's vision is to reduce inequalities and create life-enhancing opportunities for the growth and development of all people in body, mind and spirit. Its values — caring, respect, honesty, responsibility, relationships and open communication — shape everything from the gym floor to the classroom, and the organisation remains an active, welcoming presence in Gisborne more than 140 years after James Rosie founded it in 1880.
On the corner of Roebuck Road and Childers Road sits one of Gisborne's longest-serving community organisations. YMCA Gisborne Inc — known locally as the Y — traces its roots to 1880, when James Rosie, an Englishman whose old drapery firm had been involved in establishing the YMCA in London, founded the local association. Its first home was a Methodist schoolroom; from there it moved above Rosie's haberdashery on the corner of Bright Street and Gladstone Road, then to Read's Quay Hall, and in 1926 into its first purpose-built building on Fitzherbert Street, raised with $5,000 of community funding.
The Y has lived at its current corner since the main stadium building opened in 1962, following a $20,000 public appeal launched in 1958. A two-storey extension followed in 1969. In 2007 the association purchased the Kaiti Memorial Hall and its surrounding parkland — the parkland is leased to the Gisborne District Council as a recreational reserve — and in 2008 repairs added showers for the Y Fitness Centre, a small childcare centre and a teen parenting classroom, while the Y Tamariki bilingual early childhood centre was built beside the Memorial Hall.
Plenty of locals know the Y Fitness Centre, with its Les Mills classes, group fitness timetable and memberships. But the fitness centre is just one strand. The Y also runs the Y Kids community early childhood centre in Roebuck Road, which offers childcare and education for up to 50 children a day, alongside the purpose-built Y Tamariki bilingual centre in Kaiti. Y Education covers alternative education and the Y Trades Training Centre, giving young people hands-on pathways into work.
Then there is Y KAI, the Y's food service with its published school term menu, and Y OSCAR, which keeps school-age children cared for through its afterschool care and holiday programmes. Add Y Youth programmes, the community stadium, and Y Supervised Contact services for families, and it is clear why the organisation describes its mission as building strong kids, strong families and strong communities.
Everything the Y does is guided by a set of values it names openly: caring (atawhaitia), respect (whakanui te tangata), honesty (te whakapono), responsibility (te kawenga atu), relationships (whakawhanaungatanga) and open communication (kia pono te korero). Its vision is to reduce inequalities and create life-enhancing opportunities for the growth and development of all people in body, mind and spirit.
The Y's corner building carries a remarkable family history. The YMCA movement invented basketball — Dr James Naismith nailed peach baskets to a gym balcony in Springfield, Massachusetts in December 1891 — and volleyball followed in 1895 when YMCA instructor William G. Morgan strung up a tennis net and called his new game "mintonette". Racquetball, Father's Day and the red Flanders poppy as a symbol of remembrance all trace back to YMCA people too.
During the First World War, YMCA New Zealand worked alongside the armed forces; by 1917 there were 15 New Zealand YMCA centres in the fighting area of France, providing comfort, recreation and education to servicemen, many within four miles of the front line.
Whether you are enrolling a child, joining a fitness class or looking for a way to give back, the Y welcomes the community at its corner of Roebuck and Childers Roads. Check the website for fitness timetables, the Y KAI school term menu and programme details, and follow the Y on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram for news, videos and upcoming events. If you would like to help, volunteering opportunities and a Givealittle donation page make it easy to support the Y's work. After well over a century in Gisborne, the Y is still doing what it set out to do in 1880: helping this community grow in body, mind and spirit.