Purpose | Mission |  Heritage & Global | Work Areas | Campaigns | Retail | House Style

Purpose Headline

Everyone should have a fair chance to discover who they are and what they can become.

Purpose Statement

YMCA believes in fairness and opportunity.

There are essential building blocks for a full and rewarding life: a safe home; acceptance; guidance; friendship; physical and mental health; academic support; employment skills; and access to real opportunities.

Many young people have never known these things; other people have lost one or more as they grew up, but we all need them. All of us.

At YMCA, we provide these critical foundations for a fresh, strong start for young people and a better quality of life in the community.

Vision

The vision of YMCA is of an inclusive Christian movement, transforming communities so that all young people can belong, contribute and thrive.

Values

We seek out | We never stop looking for ways to transform lives for the better.

We welcome | We respect, support, and protect without fail. Everyone is included, and everyone belongs.

We inspire | We build – and rebuild – people’s confidence in their own strength, and foster conviction in everyone’s potential.

We speak out | We stand up for what’s right, advocate when needed, and encourage people to find the power of their own voice.

We serve others | We are committed to the wellbeing of others in mind, body, and spirit, and to fair and equitable opportunities for all.

Faith

Our Christian roots inspire us to create programmes that nurture both spiritual and social wellbeing for all.

History & Heritage

YMCA is the oldest and largest charity working with young people in the world.

Global Movement

We operate at the heart of communities across the world. Our global movement is a powerful force for good, fostering community and youth development.

Learn about YMCA’s collaborative efforts across 120 countries, promoting inclusivity and addressing mounting challenges through our united mission to make a difference on an international scale.

Find out more at ymca.int/vision-2030

Family & Youth Work

Creating positive outcomes with children and young people in their communities, and support for families with nursery, day care, holiday and year-round programmes.

Health & Wellbeing

Gyms, sport and recreation for fitness, and community hubs for classes, social connection and collaborations.

Housing

Providing a home and personalised support services for a fresh start in life.

YMCA is the largest voluntary provider of safe, supported housing for young people in England and Wales.

Support & Advice

A safe place to talk and get help through guided groups, mentoring, counselling, and mental health services.

Training & Education

Opportunities to gain qualifications, skills and employment.

▶ #BuildingFutures | 10,000 new homes for young people

We’re different! 

Our charity shops operate at the heart of local communities, and community is at the heart of everything we do at YMCA.

Money raised at YMCA charity shops goes towards helping transform the lives of 400,000+ young people each year in almost 700 communities across England and Wales, from providing a warm bed and access to food banks, to vital mental health support for those in need.

Shop with YMCA.

Donate. Volunteer. Shop. 

Your support helps transform young lives in our local communities.

Our name 

• We are ‘YMCA’; do not say ‘The YMCA’.
• As a collective, YMCA is a ‘Federation’. ‘Local YMCAs’ are referred to as this or as ‘member YMCAs’.
• YMCA is a singular noun, e.g. ‘YMCA is launching its play scheme’ not ‘YMCA are launching their play scheme’.
• The plural of YMCA is ‘YMCAs’ and never ‘YMCA’s’ with an apostrophe.

Our people

We avoid attaching negative connotations to people:

• A ‘resident’ is someone who sleeps in a bed in a service managed by YMCA.
• A ‘young person’ is someone who accesses our services aged under 25 years old, while others are ‘users’.
• ‘young people in desperate need‘, not ‘desperate young people’.
• ‘people experiencing homelessness‘, not ‘the homeless’ or ‘rough sleepers.
  Where this does not work with the context, say ‘homeless young people‘ not ‘young homeless people’.
• When talking about long-term homelessness, don’t say ‘entrenched’ unless you are describing the situation the person is in, e.g. ‘to prevent someone experiencing homelessness from becoming entrenched’.
• You may use ‘hard to reach’ as well as ‘complex needs’.
• Avoid reference to ‘vulnerable’ unless there is the potential to express strength or obstacles overcome later in the story.

Alcohol and drugs

• Prioritise the term ‘use’ instead of ‘abuse’ or ‘misuse’, and ‘dependent’ instead of ‘addicted’.
• Say ‘alcohol users’, not ‘abusers’ or ‘heavy drinkers’.
• Say ‘drug users’ rather than ‘drug addicts’ or ‘drug abusers’.

Mental health 

• Say ‘people with mental health difficulties’ or ‘people living with a mental difficulty’, not ‘mentally ill’ or ‘mental health issues’.

Domestic abuse

• Use the phrase ‘experienced domestic abuse’ rather than ‘victim of…’.
• Do not say ‘violence’.

Language use

• Use British spelling and not American, e.g. ‘organisation’ not ‘organization’; ‘programme’ not ‘program’.
• All one word, no hyphen: ‘careplanning’ | ‘frontline’ | ‘keyworkers’ | ‘keyworking’ | ‘wellbeing’
• Capitalise ‘Government’ when talking about something central Government has done. When used as an adjective use lower case, e.g. ‘government funding’.

Ampersand (&) or ‘and’?

• Always use an ampersand for YMCA titles, e.g. YMCA England & Wales
• When referencing the areas that YMCA serves, ‘and’ must be used, e.g. ‘YMCAs across England and Wales’.
• Always use an ampersand for work area titles, e.g. ‘Family & Youth Work’.

Numbers

• Numbers up to and including nine should be spelt out in words and numbers above and including 10 as numerals, e.g. one, four, seven, nine and 10, 45, 938.
• Generally, it’s best to start sentences with words not numbers, so change the sentence so it does not start with a number, e.g. ‘This year, 15 clients graduated…’ or spell it out ‘Fifteen clients graduated…’
• When including large numbers, do not use apostrophes. e.g. ‘100s’ not ‘100’s’
• Additionally, make sure you use commas when writing numbers more than 999, e.g. ‘2,000’ not ‘2000’

Dates and times

• ‘Day Date Month’ with no ‘st’, ‘nd’ or ‘th’ in the date, e.g. ‘Friday 6 June’. Add the year if necessary for clarification.
• Use the 12-hour clock format with colons and lower case “am” or “pm” following, e.g. ‘6:15am’ and ‘8pm’.

Over, more than, less or fewer?

• Over should only be used when referring to going over something such as a hill or building; more than is used for numbers, e.g. ‘more than 300 people’.
• Fewer is used when discussing countable things, while less is used for singular mass nouns. For example, you can have ‘fewer’ ingredients, dollars, people, or puppies, but ‘less’ salt, money, honesty, or love.