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Daniel remembers his first week at camp like it was yesterday.  “I was scared and afraid that I wouldn’t be good at anything and I remember picking up the bow and arrow, it was so much bigger than me” and with a smile on his face, he realised how silly he’d been, he says, “but as I pulled and released each arrow, over and over again, it felt really good…. I was pretty good at this” with a smirk on his face. 

That experience was the first of many challenges for Daniel as he quickly learned that camp would require meeting new people, listening to and following camp leader instructions and giving every activity a go.  On one occasion, the rest of the camp kids were challenged to a wall climb which Daniel recalls as one of his hardest days at camp.  “I was climbing the wall and as I reached the overhang I wanted to give up” he says, and with a glum look in his eyes followed by a victorious tone he continues, “I was really tired but I kept going and when I got to the top I was so happy.”

It’s official - YMCA Auckland has heroes within its ranks. At the 2016 Albert-Eden Local Heroes Awards, Mt Albert Community and Recreation Centre came away with an exciting award.

Over the last year Tama has visited the facility over 200 times. The changes in Tama’s life have been holistic too, he has become the “king of broccoli”, and has gone from binge drinking to just having the occasional social drink with friends. Tama attributes his consistency to the great service of YMCA; all gyms have the necessary equipment, however for him what catapults YMCA into the next tier is the friendly approachable service and comfort he feels when attending the gym.

For many people, retirement means peace, quiet, and relaxation. Not so, however, for Denise. When Denise retired at 60 years old, she seized it as an opportunity to get fit. Her doctor wanted Denise to lower her blood pressure and take care of her high cholesterol levels. “Now that I was retired, I knew that I had no excuse not to go to the gym,” laughs Denise.

Find out how YMCA is helping Denise tackle retirement, health and her bucket list.

According to recent research by Auckland Council, there are almost 500,000 children and young people living in Auckland alone. That means almost 40% of Auckland’s total population is under the age of 25. This figure rises to as high as 52% in some local board areas, but either way, has the potential to give vibrancy to Auckland, if the vision and energy of those young people are channeled. YMCA Auckland’s youth development programme, Raise Up, is doing just that!

Find out how James Toohey from the Mt Albert Community is benefiting from YMCA's partnership with Outward Bound.

In West Auckland, the Raise Up crew for 2014 was comprised of young people from a range of backgrounds, including representatives from five of the local high schools. One such young person is 15 year old Massey High School student, Jordan Matakatea, who has been part of the Raise Up Crew based at Massey for the last three years.

Read about Jordan's journey with RaiseUp and YMCA.

Conin Bowker has been working with YMCA Auckland since 2013, and in March he stepped into the role of Raise Up Coordinator based at Massey Leisure Centre managed by YMCA.  Prior to this appointment, he had helped with the Raise Up Crew for several years, particularly with their dance events.  Conin is also the Gymnastics Coordinator for YMCA Auckland.

From crew member to staff member read about Conin's journey in YMCA.

On February 10^th, there was a particular kind of excitement in the air around the Massey Leisure Centre managed by YMCA. It was the day that the NZ Breakers – yes, those Breakers, our biggest basketball superstars – were coming to visit.

Find out how YMCA is working with The Breakers to promote BreakerBall and get young kids in our communities active.

Starting school is an exciting time for any student, but it can also be pretty overwhelming. There’s different routines, bigger workloads, and new faces, which can be tough to handle for young children.

Find out how YMCA helped five-year-old Philip Wendt hit the ground running.

Juggling the finances is a tricky game for many families. Shannon Keane, the Centre Manager at YMCA Manurewa Early Learning Centre, has witnessed firsthand just how tough it can be for families. She’s on close terms with many of them, and likes to help from month to month, as she can, to ensure that the debt doesn’t pile up.

Find out how YMCA is working with BNZ to improve financial literacy in the Manurewa community.

If you're part of the YMCA Lynfield Family, you will have received a friendly "Hello" from Paul during one of your visits to our Centre.  

Paul is YMCA Lynfield's Centre Assistant and has been at the Centre for 16 years. He has earned himself a renowned reputation - there is no job he cannot do!  Paul's hard work, friendly nature and can-do attitude was widely recognized and rewarded by the YMCA Auckland, as he won the Annual "Star of the Year" award, going up against 700 staff members from 23 different Centres.

Star Awards are how the YMCA recognizes staff that goes above and beyond their call of duty and displays our core values in all they do. Our values are honesty, caring, respect and responsibility. Paul was greatly honored with the award during YMCA's AGM in October.

YMCA welcomed dogs of all shapes and sizes for a splash around in the outdoor pool at the Onehunga War Memorial Pool before they closed for winter.

Dogs and their people came from all around to spend the day having fun in the sun. While there was fabulous representation from the local Onehunga community, we also had a visitor from Tauranga come all the way up, just to have a really special day with his dog and new canine pals. Local councillor Denise Krum came along to see what we were up to, and Centre Manager Cameron Kerr brought his whole family along for the fun and festivities.

Find out how YMCA is engaging the fury and four legged members of our communities as well as their people.