Woking YMCA - Pilates classes at the Ypod

Woking YMCA had their AGM on Monday 12th November 2007. It was a fantastic evening with contributions from young people in the form of music and a presentation. Below are some photos from the night.

Oct 07 New Young Parents Group at the Ypod

A new group especially for young parents (up to 26 years old) is starting at the Ypod on Thursday 25th October 2007 from 12.30pm-2.30pm.

We want to encourage young parents to become all they can be. We will offer you support, friendship, social opportunities and activities and we also plan to offer courses shortly.

Please drop in and see us. The group which launches on Thursday 25th October, will run every Thursday from 12.30-2.30pm at the Ypod centre.

Oct 07 Woking YMCA attends Youth Justice Conference

Woking YMCA CEO attends Ministry of Justice youth conference. Woking YMCA CEO Terry Eckersley was invited to the Ministry of Justice youth conference to discuss the involvement of young people in government during the day he met former home secretary Jack Staw.

Sept 07 Woking YMCA's 1st Anniversary Dinner

Woking YMCA's 1st Anniversary Dinner was held on the 28th September 2007 at the HG Wells Centre in Woking. We celebrated our amazing first year of operation and also honoured some community leaders from Woking who have made a big impact in Woking:

We also awarded special awards to 3 of our young people who have made an outstanding contribution to the Ypod - Callum Rodgers, Jacob Wilson and Melanie Atkinson.

The evening was a great success and we look forward to celebrating even greater achievements next year.

Aug 07 What a caring bunch you are!

NOMINATIONS FLOODING IN FOR COMMUNITY HEROES AWARD

Stories of people who work selflessly for others have been flooding in the Community Hero Awards 2007, being run by the Woking Place Informer and Wolsey Place shopping centre.

The award, launched by the centre in 2006 to honour acknowledge unsung heroes in Woking, has had an overwhelming response this year.
The shortlist included Paula Chapman, nominated by Terry Eckersley from Woking’s YMCA and Anne O’Neill a fundraiser for many charities, including the Stroke Association and the Parkinson’s disease Society nominated by John Vears.

A spokeswoman for Wolsey Place said “With some of the nominations received, it is clear that this award touched the hearts of the local community and showed their appreciations for the nominees’ tireless work”.

The shortlisted finalists will be invited to the Wolsey Place Shopping centre for a special awards ceremony on Friday August 24 at 12.00pm.

The most outstanding community hero will then be decided upon by a panel of judges including Wolsey Place centre manager Richard Wheeler and Woking Mayor, Cllr Bryan Cross.

All finalists will go home with a certificate to commemorate the occasion and the winner will take the coveted Wolsey Place Community Hero Award 2007.

The winner will also receive a selection of prizes, including £5 Gift voucher from WH Smiths, a £25 voucher from F Hinds jewellers, a £20 token from Waterstones book shop and coffee for two at starbucks.

Aug 07 Woking YMCA gets a face lift

Woking YMCA was delighted to receive £10,000 from the Local Committee Fund to give the centre a face lift. The money was spent ina number of areas including new sofa's a new music system, amazing new stage lights, a plasma TV and various games and equipment. Thank you to Local Committee Fund our young people are loving their new look centre!

Aug 07 VIP date for Woking YMCA - Woking Informer

The chief executive of Woking YMCA’s Ypod Centre had an important date last week with the Queen and Prince Philip at Buckingham Palace.

Terry Eckersley and friend Jill Webb joined around 8,000 guests at the royal garden party for community workers in good weather and with some dainty food. Terry said: “The queen and Prince Philip went down one side greeting guests and Prince Charles and Camilla took another route. “At one stage I was standing only yards from the Queen, who was wearing a cream suit and hat”. He said guests were offered cucumber sandwiches, tiny salmon bagels, small rich chocolate cakes with HR on them and “some very posh ice-cream”. He said: “It was a really great honour to be among so many people who serve the community. There was a group of 26 women from Wales who had been working in the community for 40 years and a long serving guy from the Territorial Army who had been out in Iraq. “It is also an honour for the staff and volunteers of the YMCA to be acknowledged for what we have accomplished in the 12 months we have been open”. He said the Ypod team would be holding a VIP dinner on September 28 when the achievements would be outlined.

The Queen holds three garden parties a year with around 8,000 guests at each. At a typical garden party, 27,000 cups of tea and 20,000 slices of cake are consumed, served by 400 waiting staff.

Sept 07 Woking YMCA's Annual Dinner

Woking YMCA are delighted to announce our first anniversairy dinner celebration on 28th September 2007 at the HG Wells centre in Woking. During the evening there will be a 3 course dinner and we wil be honoring 3 people who have made an outstanding impact on the community of Woking, one of these is confirmed as Ray Morgan, CEO of Woking Borough Council. More details and how to buy tickets will follow shortly.

Jul 07 Woking YMCA at Woking Mela

Woking YMCA participated in the recent Woking Mela at the woking Mosque. It was a great day and we extend a big thank you to everyone involved in organising the event.

Sept 07 Tenant AGM Success

Tackling anti-social behaviour in a positive way and building sustainable communities were top of the agenda at the annual meeting of Woking Borough Council’s Tenant and Leaseholder Forum. The meeting at the YMCA Ypod was attended by more than 40 council tenants and leaseholders, councillors, council officers and representatives other agencies. Lynette Shanks, neighbourhood inspector for Woking, and Terry Eckersley, chief executive officer of the YMCA Ypod, were guest speakers. They highlighted ways in which the police, the Ypod, the council and other agencies are working together to build better communities and create opportunities for young people to channel their energies positively and creatively. The success of the event confirmed the results of the recent tenant satisfaction survey which showed satisfaction levels with the council as a landlord had risen 4%, with 80% of tenants satisfied.

Jun 07 The True Apprentice

Terry Eckersley, chief executive of Woking YMCA, has written a guide to becoming a 'True Apprentice' of Jesus - now available as an e-book.Inspired by a passage in Matthew chapter 10 verses 39 to 42, Terry has written a booklet in the style of the hit BBC show The Apprentice.Terry said: 'I was reading the passage in The Message version of the Bible - which is a new translation in every day English.'And this verse leapt out at me: 'The smallest act of giving or receiving makes you a True Apprentice.

You're hired!
The True Apprentice e-book describes the steps you can take to become a 'faithful follower' of Jesus.It is intended to be used as a private bible study, for devotions or quiet times, as notes for church small groups or cell groups, or as the basis for a sermon.I'm a huge fan of The Apprentice and I thought it would be a great way to bring Jesus' message to a modern audience. Divided into six sections, The True Apprentice offers practical advice, entertaining and moving stories and illustrations, bible references, quotes, and a series of challenging questions to end each section.

The e-book is available as to download from The True Apprentice website here: www.thetrueapprentice.com

Word on the Web: inspiration in your inbox: The True Apprentice is being serialised by the Church Army's Word on the Web service, which sends out free daily bible reading notes by email.The True Apprentice series will run from Monday 18 to Sunday 24 June - just after The Apprentice BBC series finished its run on TV.Each day will feature a bible passage with an extract from The True Apprentice to offer daily inspiration and reflection.

Jun 07 YMCA England chair, Regional chair & Regional Exec visit Woking YMCA

Woking YMCA were delighted to welcome the Chair of YMCA England David Bedford, the Regional Chair and the Regional Execuative Officer on the 27th June 2007. Our visitors enjoyed a tour of our brand new building and heard about all our activities and programme. They met our E2E trainer, Jackie and some of our E2E leaners

Brining out the best in our youth

The Woking Ypod welcomed a special visitor on Friday when Shadow Home Secretary for the Liberal Democrats Nick Clegg dropped by during a trip to the town. Terry Eckersley, chief executive of the Ypod and Woking Liberal Democrats, including group leader Cllr Sue Smith, greeted the MP for Sheffield Hallam on a tour of the youth facility. The Ypod was officially opened in September and was made possible after a £750,000 grant from Woking Borough Council. Mr Clegg asked Terry about the facility in Chobham Road and its opening hours. Mr Clegg said it was important to preserve such a place for youngsters today, so they would be less likely to get into trouble in their later teenage years. He was given a tour of the conference room, where the youth council holds its meetings and of a main mirrored room with a stage, which is used for gigs and dance lessons by other members of the community. He also visited the state-of-the-art recording studio, a very popular feature at the Ypod which can be used by up and coming bands from across the borough. Regular members Jacob Wilson, Damian Handoll and Callum Radgers spoke to the MP, while testing his skills at the pool table. Callum, 12, said: “I follow politics like there is no tomorrow. I’m not a fan of Tony Blair but I like the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives”. Mr Clegg said: “You have to give young people things to bring out the best in them. “My vision is to keep the young people who I have met here today as positive as possible. We need more places like this in the UK to keep children motivated”. Jacob Wilson, 13 from Woking said: “I really like coming to the Ypod it’s fun. Normally after school I would probably go home but now I can come here, it’s something else to do rather than watching TV and I get to meet new people”. CJ Farrow, 20, from Sheerwater, who volunteers at the centre, said: “From a professional point of view it is great coming into a large organisation at a local level and being able to help with a project with young people aged 11 to 22”. There are also proposals to develop the second floor of the building into a multi use sports hall in the future. For more information about the Ypod, simply call in for a visit or got to www.wokingymca.org.uk.

Mar 07 Crowds turn out to witness

About 700 people took part in an Act of Witness in Woking town centre on Good Friday during which several people read verses from the Bible in their own languages. The event, organised by Churches Together in Woking, began with a procession around the town, led by the Almac, Bisley Brass and Salvation Army bands and joined by Woking Mayor, Cllr John Kingsbury. Churches taking part had red banners or flags and individual churches made red paper chains with messages on them. The chains were joined together during the service and draped on the wooden cross during a service in Town Square. A large crowd watched dramatic performances and listened to readings from the scriptures read by people from other countries. Young people asked questions about the events of Good Friday, which were answered by the Rev Johnny Blair, Vicar of St Paul’s Church, Woking, who led the service. For the first time, five churches covering the South Woking area joined forces for pocessions with crosses, followed by a short service and free hot cross buns for participants and onlookers. The processions, each with one person carrying a wooden cross, started at three separate points and culminated at New Life Church in Kingfield for a service in the car park, which included a dramatised reading for the events of Good Friday. Other churches taking part were St Marks, St Peters, All Souls and Vineyard. The Rev Ian Tweedie-Smith, Vicar of St Marks, Westfield said: “We had an excellent turnout with all five churches in the area represented. “We certainly hope to repeat the event next year”.

Mar 07 Prince Charles Visits Woking

Prince Charles will be visiting Woking next week to find out about the borough council’s work to tackle climate change. During the visit, on Friday March 23, he will be shown the site of one of the borough’s green initiatives and launch a major exhibition on the subject by business in the Community in the Peacocks’ shopping centre. He will spend more than three hours in the town, beginning his visit by viewing the Albion Square canopy being built outside Woking Railway Station. The steel and glass canopy stretching from the station entrance to Albion House is equipped with cells which will collect solar energy to light the canopy. He will take part in a seminar involving representatives from seven councils with Beacon status for sustainable energy and key national and local business people, which will include a presentation by Woking Borough Council. Finally, he will watch a film at the Ambassadors cinema for a special viewing of Al Gore’s Oscar winning film, An Inconvenient Truth, which highlights the effect that climate change, could have on the earth. Tim Keeping, Peacocks centre manager said, “We are honoured to be welcoming the Prince of Wales to our centre to open the exhibition.” The exhibition will be displayed outside Marks & Spencer and will remain in the centre until April 13. Cllr Sue Smith, leader of the executive said: “We are looking forward to showcasing some of our important sustainable energy initiatives and welcoming Business in the Community to the borough to launch their exhibition. “Woking Council is one of the leading authorities on climate change and we hope that this very special visit will encourage local businesses to think about the way they conduct themselves and move towards more sustainable business methods.”

BECAUSE OF HIS OUTSTANDING WORK IN THE COMMUNITY, SIMON HAS BEEN MADE WOKING COMMUNITY MAN OF THE YEAR!

A man who has helped re-launch the YMCA as the Ypod Centre in Woking has been made Community Man of the Year.

The honour was given to Simon Bellord by the Rotary Club of Woking in recognition of his outstanding voluntary service. Simon, 46, of Coniston Road, Old Woking, has lived in the town for 19 years and was working in IT with Phillips Petroleum, heading the customer services team, when he decided to study for a degree.

He gained his BA in politics, philosophy and history in 2005, having worked during his studies on an internet research project for young people educated other than at school. He has lectured in IT Key skills and worked extensively for the charity CAFOD, visiting schools and youth groups to discuss development and fair trade in developing countries. His latest voluntary project has been the Ypod centre now being constructed in Chobham Road, Woking, where a recording studio, chill-out area, coffee bar, information and support will be available for young people when it opens later this year. Simon has been the right-hand man of Ypod chief executive Terry Eckersley, working in fundraising and standards. The father of three who describes himself as a 'househusband' is also standing in the borough elections as Conservative candidate for Mayford and Sutton Green. Simon will be presented with his award by Rotarians on Friday May 19 at Hoebridge Golf Centre.

SIMON, WHO HAS BEEN SIGNIFICANT IN HELPING RE-LAUNCH WOKING YMCA IN THE FORM OF THE YPOD CENTRE, HAS ALSO BEEN GIVEN A CERTIFICATE FROM SURREY COUNTY COUNCIL FOR EXCELLENCE IN HIS SUPPORT OF THE EVERY CHILD MATTERS AGENDA.

AN OUTSTANDING HUSBAND AND FATHER OF THREE, SIMON IS ALSO STANDING FOR LOCAL ELECTION TO WOKING BOROUGH COUNCIL, AND IS ALREADY MAKING A HUGE COMMUNITY IMPACT! www.woking.gov.uk

Nov 07 Woking YMCA AGM