After 16 years serving the Aspley community, it is with great regret that Nottinghamshire YMCA will not be renewing their lease at the Youth and Community Centre (YCC) in Melbourne Park.
This difficult decision has been reached due to an unsustainable rent increase, and the young people’s charity is no longer taking new bookings for activities based at the venue.
YMCA accepted the council’s offer of a six-month lease extension from April 2021 until end of September 2021 to ease the transition. The three YMCA staff members who were based fully at the venue have now been redeployed to the charity’s other sites, along with around 10 employees who utilised the venue’s office spaces.
Since introducing programmes into Melbourne Park in 2005, YMCA has empowered community members and children of all ages to come together and enjoy everything from fun youth activities such as Adventure Guides and birthday parties to sports, adult fitness classes, training opportunities, bingo, access to mental health support and so much more.
Daniel Hibbert, Operations Manager Health, Wellbeing and Sports at Nottinghamshire YMCA, said: “We were not initially offered the opportunity to purchase the venue and only recently became aware of this avenue. We are conducting an internal review to assess the feasibility of this option but we could not say for certain either way at this stage.
“Our team deeply values being such an integral part of this wonderful and diverse community. As a champion of social mobility, we promise to continue to work hard to ensure the interests of young and vulnerable people in Nottinghamshire remain protected so we can all belong, contribute and thrive in our communities together.
“We would like to reassure the local community that their non-profit services will still continue to run in this area. Our charity’s YMCA Childcare service has already been relocated to St. Teresa’s Primary School, and our half-term day camp is running in West Bridgford under the YMCA Camp Williams programme which is now taking bookings for October 2021.
“While we will be sad to say goodbye to this fantastic venue where so many memories were made, we look forward to a bright future and very much hope you will re-join our community services in their new locations.”
YMCA is now planning the best way to deliver their ever-popular YMCA OnSide programme, which offers inclusive sport for disabled children and their families, to ensure local young people can still get the most out of the charity’s services.
We will continue to publish service updates on our website as and when details are confirmed.