YMCA Black Country Group celebrated the Grand Opening of YMCA City Gateway on Friday 4th November ’22 following the completion of the final phase in August ’22.
The new facility was officially opened by Carlos Sanvee, Secretary General of World YMCA (who flew in from Geneva especially for the occasion) together with the Rt Rev Clive Gregory, Bishop of Wolverhampton.
Carlos gave greetings from World YMCA and acknowledged the importance of the local and international impact of YMCA Black Country as one of over 12,000 YMCAs across the worldwide YMCA family. Bishop Clive gave a prayer of blessing, before together with Carlos, officially opening the facility by cutting the ribbon and unveiling the plaque.
The Opening also included a Thanksgiving Service with contributions from the nursery children, staff and an address from Bishop Clive. Steve Clay, CEO and former Chair Jon Rowe also gave a brief outline of the history of the project and the importance of the transformational services that will now be delivered in the coming years. The event was attended by design and construction partners, trustees, community members, service users, funders, volunteers, staff and local and national supporters
YMCA City Gateway is a prominent landmark located on City’s ring road, off the A41, and adjacent to the historic Royal Hospital. Built on the site of the former bus depot, the scheme is a model example of a brownfield regeneration partnership, between voluntary, public and private sectors. YMCA Black Country’s vision is to bring positive transformation to communities, helping local people to develop holistically, in mind, body & spirit.
The scheme represents an £8.6M investment into the City, funded by Homes England (£3.8M), Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership (£1M) and YMCA Black Country (£3.8M).
Service & facilities include:
- 63 ‘City-living’ studio/apartments for young professionals / workers
- 115 place Day Nursery for local families & City working families
- Community Training area providing Learning & Skills programmes
- Commercial / Retail units for local services and
- and the YMCA Administrative HQ, for operations across the Black Country.
