Author: ymcaedinburgh

  • YMCA Edinburgh’s The Promise Blog – Voice

    YMCA Edinburgh has been working to make The Promise Scotland a reality for the young people, families and community we work with since the Promise was launched in 2020. The Promise aims to ensure that all children and young people across Scotland “grow up loved, safe and respected”. This seems like a sensible enough ambition…

  • Ben Macpherson MSP Visit

    Ben Macpherson MSP Visit

    Big thanks to Ben Macpherson MSP for taking the time to visit YMCA Edinburgh this week following the launch of Inspiring Scotland’s intandem Scotland impact report. As well as discusssing the impact mentoring can have, we appreciated the opportunity to speak about YMCA work to support young peoples voice in influencing community developments and the…

  • National Lottery Community Fund – Improving Lives Award

    National Lottery Community Fund – Improving Lives Award

    YMCA Edinburgh is excited to share that we have received a successful three-year funding award from the National Lottery Community Fund. The money will support the expansion of our Plusone Mentoring programme and a range of additional supports to build scaffolding around the lives of young people we connect with. Over the 3 years, we…

  • October Holiday Playscheme

    October Holiday Playscheme

    Last week we were at Leith Community Centre delivering another action-packed Holiday Playscheme over the October break. With around 25 Primary-aged kids attending each session a range of activities were on offer; sports, arts, crafts and Bollywood dance! Thanks to Leith Community Centre for the use of their facilities and to Street Soccer Scotland for…

  • Friday Play Visit

    Friday Play Visit

    On Friday, October 4th, the officers at Leith Police Station took time out of their busy days to give the YMCA Play Kids a tour of the station, talk about their jobs, and answer any questions from the group. It was a memorable and fun experience, especially getting to see YMCA staff member, Maureen, in…

  • Kiltwalk 2024

    Kiltwalk 2024

    Despite his calf injury, Paul Scott (Youth & Play Coordinator) completed the #KiltWalk on Sunday, raising money for YMCA Edinburgh. Paul leads our free-to-access playrangers sessions, holiday playschemes, and youth work, which are focused on improving wellbeing and managing your mental health. He has been working in the local community for almost 10 years, helping…

  • The Promise – Youth Participation Stories

    The Promise – Youth Participation Stories

    Cables Wynd, known affectionately as the Banana Flats, is an iconic building in Leith. A diverse community resides there and they have been actively trying to make much-needed improvements to the building, one of the most frequently voiced issues was the lifts in the building often breaking, being unreliable and people getting trapped in them.…

  • Friday Night Lights

    Friday Night Lights

    The project directly responds to local needs by delivering a sports-based youth work session to young people at a crucial point in the week. Following concerns raised by police around levels of anti-social behaviour on Friday evenings and the vulnerabilities local young people have to being led into organised crime,  a partnership between the Community…

  • Solomon’s Story

    Solomon’s Story

    Solomon’s Story The project has provided an opportunity for one local young person to develop and grow through a volunteer role in the project. New to Scotland, Solomon faced apprehension in travelling around the community due to concerns over incidents of violence following a stabbing in the local area. With the encouragement of a school-based…

  • Pony Trek at Lasswade

    Pony Trek at Lasswade

    Some of the girls from our Older Girls Wellbeing Group enjoyed a horse riding lesson over the weekend at Lasswade Riding Centre They were all absolutely amazing. They began with a 30 minute lesson followed by 30 minute trek. This was something the girls have wanted to do for a long time and its safe…