YMCA Plymouth

Plymouth YMCA has been dedicated to serving the people of Plymouth since 1848 as community education, health and families charity, with a focus on young people. Their vision is of a community where everyone has the opportunity to belong, contribute and thrive. The services they offer include:

• Accredited vocational qualifications for young people aged 16-19 years;
• Health and wellbeing services (specialised gym and community fitness classes);
• Outreach services in local schools, sport orientated daily sessions and after school clubs;
• Facility hire to local communities for sports and other events;
• Disability activity sessions;
• The home of Special Olympics Plymouth.

They also deliver also the YMCA Inclusive project that provides 10 specialist disability sport sessions per week in Torpoint and Plymouth.

The areas YMCA Plymouth is located within have significantly worse than average levels of cardiac and pulmonary disease. Data shows that these areas also have particularly low participation in sport and high numbers of excess weight adults. This demonstrates the need to increase participation and support the need for healthier lifestyles in this area. 

Funding from players will be used to regenerate and refurbish their community gym in Honickowle Plymouth with a new state-of-the-art immersive spin studio and high-spec gym; with the aim of tackling health inequalities. 

The new immersive spin studio will comprise of a number of spin exercise bikes, a state-of-the-art cinematic curved screen and advanced audio system; all designed to provide users with an exhilarating immersive experience while burning calories.

An expanded gym with cutting-edge equipment will also be installed in a newly kitted out fitness suite. This will not only improve the workouts of the centre’s over 1000 members but also enable the YMCA to grow its successful cardiac rehabilitation services and health provision for vulnerable groups.

The gym will support three out of the top five most deprived areas of the city, increasing capacity for disadvantaged groups, people with cardiac conditions and NHS referrals. Full paying, affordable gym members will cross-subsidise these higher impact groups. 

Visit their website here: https://www.ymcaplymouth.org.uk/