Activities & Clubs

BOXING CLUB

Boxing has been part of the Cardiff YMCA Activities programme for over 80 years. There have been some gaps in that time and the current boxing club has been up and running since 2002. The club runs every Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings and is open to men and women of all ages and all abilities. The club is a great starting point for people either wishing to get fit in a safe environment or interested in boxing as a serious sport. The club itself encourages friendship and team spirit. For further details contact Gary Pemberton, Tony Khan or Altaf Hussain on any of the above evenings at the Cardiff YMCA premises.

CHESS CLUB

The Chess Club has been in existence for over 100 years, and in January 1901 the minutes recorded thanks to the Cardiff YMCA for its “admirable arrangements and catering” for a visit by the Hastings Club, when a meat tea was provided. Things have not changed, and we continue to appreciate the help and facilities made available to us. The Club is still going strong and meets on Tuesdays at the YMCA, The Walk Ten Teams represent it in league matches. Membership remains buoyant, consisting of all ages and strengths, and drawn from a dozen countries, for chess is a very international sport.

YOUTH WORK

Cardiff’s YMCA youth work has taken very positive steps in developing projects to address some of the difficult issues faced by young people in Cardiff including working in partnership with other local agencies, like the Beacon Centre Trust and the Family Support Project, to improve the services we offer to young people

"The Youth Intervention Project" is a local partnership working towards tackling issues of social exclusion affecting young people throughout the East of Cardiff, using innovative and highly effective personal development programmes and projects, both within the schools system and in the community. The Project aims to support young people between the ages of 11-19 years inclusive, during their difficult transition into adulthood. It recognises that this period is often isolating and challenging for many young people.

Each of our personal development programmes aim to offer support, guidance and information regarding different issues that young people face to develop each individual’s self esteem and confidence, to enable them to make more informed choices about their lives. The project has two phases of contact with young people. The first phase works within schools, building strong relationships by working on a one-to-one basis with young people, tackling issues that most affect them and set up structures that allow them to develop in all aspects of their lives. The second phase continues supporting young people in the community by building on the existing relationships and offering achievable accredited training for both pre-sixteen years of age and post-sixteen years of age.

SCHOOLS WORK

Our aim within schools is to work on a one-to one basis with young people, for approximately one hour a week (may be increased to a maximum of 3 hrs depending on the issues the young person may present), who are in danger of exclusion from the schools system or who are going through difficult transitions and need help and advice with difficult issues. In addition, we get alongside young people “where they are at” to support and enable them to make informed choices as they move through their teenage years into adulthood as confident, mature members of the local community.

COMMUNITY BASED WORK

In our second phase we offer additional support to young people who have been excluded from the schools system, by offering one-to-one mentoring sessions focusing on their next step towards adulthood, be it further education, volunteering or employment. Furthermore, young people will have the opportunity to undertake achievable accredited training within the centre, covering a whole range of different subjects and areas. We believe the broad base of all learning is to empower students to have confidence in their own ability to succeed.

THE YMCA PLAYERS

The YMCA Players group have been in existence for nearly 70years and are based in the YMCA, The Walk using the 140 seat purpose built theatre. The group perform a variety of plays each year often to full houses. The following is the 2005 Annual report from the Club:

It has been another action packed journey for the Players this season. It kicked off with ‘Kiss Me Like You Mean It’, a little known play and has just ended with Alan Ayckborne’s ‘Comic Potential’, stopping off at ‘Sweeney Todd’, ‘Nobody’s Perfect’ and ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ along the way! To add to the excitement, celebrity beckons for some of the group members, as our production of Oscar Wilde’s classic ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ was featured in a BBC 1 DOCUMENTARY SERIES which aired between the 16th and 20th May under the title ‘Strutting Our Stuff’! For a month the cast and crew, led by director Phillip Sage, were followed at home, work and at rehearsal to give a behind the scenes glimpse of life at a typical drama group. The experience was exciting, if a little stressful at times, but the group gave a good account of themselves. Sadly no offers from Hollywood have yet been received! Despite all efforts, however, and this huge boost in the group’s profile, ticket sales have been a continuing problem for us. The theatre was full to bursting, though, in early April when the group hosted the Glamorgan round of the Wales Festival of One Act Plays. Geoff Lake directed our entry ‘A Dog’s Life’, by Pam Valentine, which dealt with the fates of four abandoned dogs facing destruction at a local pond, which came 2nd to Swansea Little Theatre’s ‘Bar And Ger’ with the four ‘dogs’ winning the Best Comedy performance award. Seeing the theatre so full has redoubled our determination to turn our audience figures around in the forthcoming season. The Glammies night, an annual awards ceremony held by the Glamorgan Drama League on May 14th at Barry’s Memorial Hall, was a wonderful evening for the Players. During the season, peripatetic appraisers visit all the competing groups and their marks, awarded for acting and overall production, are then toted up with various individual and group trophies being handed out to the gleeful participants. The standard is very high, so it was a delighted Mike Barlow who received the Best Production Award for his play ‘Nobody’s Perfect’. Marc Barlow was also honoured for the same play with the Best Presentation award for best set. Our fifth play, ‘Comic Potential’, which is traditionally our Festival play, with the group competing in Llandrindod Well’s and, later, Felixstowe Drama Festivals scooped the Adjudicators award for husband and wife team, Felix and Louise McLaughlin for their performances as Adam and Jaci at ‘Llandod’ as we affectionately call it. All of us have fingers tightly crossed for even more success, as the team trek off to deepest, darkest Suffolk at the end of May in our continued pursuit of silver ware! A busy season, I’m sure you’ll agree, but a satisfying one, and, as all the Players look forward to a summer break, plans are already in hand for next season’s offerings and we are sure our audiences will not be disappointed. - Jane Davies - Chairman

MARTYNELL DANCERS

Bill Thomas and Marion Garrod formed the Martynell Dancers in the early 1980s and moved to the Cardiff YMCA in May 2004. Classes in Tap, Modern, Jazz and Cheerleading are held on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings: The Dancers perform in many venues in and around Cardiff to raise funds for worthy causes, including the annual YMCA show and the Lord Mayor’s Matinee at St David’s Hall. The Dancers have also performed in London’s West End: three times at the London Palladium and once at Her Majesty’s Theatre. Rehearsals are currently underway for a second visit to Her Majesty’s Theatre in October 2005.