Liverpool YMCA

Who are we?

Liverpool YMCA is a Christian organisation which helps homeless people work through the issues that have made them homeless.

Our mission is to serve the City of Liverpool providing residential and support services for socially excluded young people and communities. Our focus is to listen to them and promote personal development, employability, social integration and citizenship.

Our philosophy emphasises a holistic approach to personal growth and development. The three equal sides of the YMCA triangle demonstrate our belief in people's rounded, holistic development. We believe that individuals become more 'whole' if they are given chances to grow in body, mind and spirit.

This gives the YMCA one of its distinctive qualities: the equal worth, potential and opportunities for the growth of staff, volunteers, residents, users and members.

We are part of the YMCA National Movement:

• There are over 140 local YMCAs throughout England YMCAs work in over 240 communities
• The YMCA is the largest provider of safe, secure and affordable supported accommodation in England
• YMCAs offer over 7300 bedspaces, ranging from hostel rooms to self-contained flats

Who we help

We help homeless men and women of all ages but mainly work with people aged between 17 and 35.

A lot of homelessness arises from family and relationship crisis. It is often those who are least able to cope who suffer the most from homelessness. This has a profound effect on the individual and there is a real risk that homelessness will lead to the emergence of other problems.

We try to intervene before vulnerable individuals reach that crisis point and we hope to make a difference to their lives and help them build a positive future.

What we do and how we do it

We help people get their life back in order. To do this, we provide temporary homes as well as a staff team who can help with issues around substance misuse, mental health, welfare rights, benefits advice, general health and housing matters.

We also have workers who help our resident's to get involved in training, education and job opportunities.

Respecting Human Dignity

Our aim is to develop all people in mind, body and spirit therefore Liverpool YMCA is committed to respecting an individual's human dignity in all aspects of work and relationships; by working within defined parameters laid down in their policies and procedures, the YMCA recognises that people have been and continue to be disadvantaged and discriminated against on the grounds of race, nationality, ethnic or cultural origins, responsibility for dependants, physical or mental, language, appearance, religious beliefs, age, class financial status or sexuality. We will seek to ensure that people are not disadvantaged in the provision of our services.

The YMCA will do this by putting equal opportunities at the heart of its work and take steps to ensure that no staff, client or contact person experiences discrimination of any kind.

The YMCA will also seek to protect, alert and act within the spirit of the law with regards to any form of abuse that may occur to anyone associated with its activities and encourage active involvement of disabled people both as employees, volunteers and members.