Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong

The industrial revolution that started in the UK in the 18th century was a hugely important milestone in human history. However, the revolution also gave rise to unhealthy social conditions in major cities across the country. As a response, Mr George Williams was inspired to establish the first YMCA, in the hopes of creating leadership for young people in the UK and motivating them to “get back on track” through Christianity by ensuring they had the correct moral and spiritual values.

Fast forward many decades to the present, where the YMCA has more than 58 million members in 120 countries, and is one of the oldest youth movements on the planet. In early August, the world celebrated the 175th anniversary of the YMCA at a massive series of festivities in London, England. These celebrations saw more than 3,000 YMCA representatives from all over the world gather in the United Kingdom to commemorate this historic moment and look to the future with pride and joy.

This ceremony was organised and coordinated by members from YMCA Europe and YMCA England and Wales, in partnership with the World Alliance of YMCAs, YMCA USA, and the YMCA World Urban Network. Thousands of volunteers, staff members, youth leaders and senior leaders from 100 countries took part, including several representatives from Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong. Each YMCA in attendance had a flag bearer, with representatives entering the venue as though they were taking part in the Olympic Games.

The festivities involved a four-day extravaganza of music and more, which shared the stories of George Williams as well as the philosophy, timelines and services of the YMCA. The organisers also invited scholars, young entrepreneurs and missionary teachers from different countries to serve as speakers, including Ms Jayathma Wickramanayake, the United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, World YMCA Secretary General Carlos Madjri Sanvee, and many others. The event enhanced public awareness about the plethora of services offered by the many YMCAs in different countries, and how the Association helps to inspire young people to think deeply, unleash their potential and contribute to society.

The event also featured workshops on different topics, such as health, sports and emotions. Through these workshops, young people from all over the world were able to further understand each other's culture and the services of the YMCA.

To help explain and magnify the history of the YMCA, the event’s organisers planned various tours to historical sites. Representatives and officers from Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong visited Westminster Abbey, a World Heritage Site. The church also has a stained glass window with the YMCA symbol which commemorates the George Williams’ contributions to the YMCA and to English society during the First World War.

The anniversary event was a huge success and brought joy and knowledge to the participating volunteers, youth representatives, officers and peers from Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong.

We hope that in future, our cooperation with other countries’ YMCAs will deepen and that we will be able to provide more relevant and diversified services for young people around the world.

Our annual report showcases our challenges, victories and accomplishments of the past year. To ensure maximum engagement, our team puts a lot of effort into designing the theme, cover, layout and content of each year’s annual report. The 2017-18 report was based around the theme of volunteering, the mirror-like polished cover featuring handprints of different sizes and “thank you” written in multiple languages on the cover. The cover design was meant “everyone can be volunteer” and to symbolize that the YMCA movement transcends race, language and age boundaries. This report also featured a number of stories from volunteers; in the hopes of motivating more people to join the ranks of our volunteer force.

We are happy to announce that at the ARC awards, we won a Bronze Award for Cover Design and a Honours Award in the Non-profit Org – Christian Service category. These awards prove that our annual report design, theme and structure are now at an international level. Congratulations to the hard-working annual report team! To view the award-winning report, please visit:

2017-18 Annual Report
http://www.ymca.org.hk/en/annual_report

Our Kowloon Centre will host our last water carnival of the summer on 31 August 2019. The event will feature water aerobics, a life-saving competition, an athletics competition and more. Everyone is welcome to join – children, young people, adults and seniors! Limited places are available, so please register early to avoid disappointment. Click here for more details on the event and to register
For inquiries, please call 2783 3636.