Y Care International thanks Building Societies

15 April 2005

Chris Roles, Chief Executive of Y Care International, pays tribute to the support of Building Society Association (BSA) members for the charity over 20 years.

For the past 20 years BSA members have helped make it possible for Y Care International – the international development and relief agency of the YMCA in the UK and Ireland – to help young people escape a future of poverty and disadvantage. Y Care International works in partnership with YMCAs across the developing world, funding and supporting grassroots development programmes in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East.

Helping Tsunami survivors

The last few months have been an extremely busy time for Y Care International. Our emergency appeal for those affected by the South Asian Tsunami has raised £4.3 million, over £2.7 million of which was generated with building societies’ support when societies promoted our appeal and made it possible for members to make donations at branches. We have been working with our international network of YMCA partners to provide immediate relief to those in need, and to finalise reconstruction plans for affected communities. I have seen for myself the impact these funds are making for some of the worst affected communities, and would like to thank building society staff and members for the crucial role they have played in this appeal.

The money raised through our emergency appeal was put to immediate use. In Sri Lanka, for example, national YMCA staff were able to communicate the extent of the devastation immediately, and work to evacuate survivors from affected areas. We sent our first grants for emergency relief in the country in the following days, which allowed food, clothes and clean water to reach thousands of people in need. Many YMCAs are housing displaced families, assisting them to live as normal a life as possible.

Long-term support

As well as providing sustenance and house repairs to those whose homes were partly damaged and belongings swept away, YMCAs in India and Sri Lanka are embarking on a house rebuilding programme, for those whose homes were completely destroyed by the Tsunami. Given that over two and a half million adults in the UK are currently buying their own homes with the help of building society loans and encouraging homeownership is a value at the core of the building society ethos, this programme is sure to resonate with BSA members. 

We are now embarking on a four-year development programme, which will focus on care for orphans and vocational skills training and micro-credit programmes so that people can rebuild their livelihoods. In the mid-term, all YMCAs are establishing counselling support for traumatised children and young people, with many training young people in community development and leadership.

None of this work would have been possible without the partnership of BSA members and our other supporters. And this is only one chapter in our organisations’ shared history – a relationship that has spanned 20 years.

BSA members have been organising emergency appeals for Y Care International for two decades with remarkable efficiency and drive. Whether in response to natural disasters such as the 1988 Armenian earthquake, or the Bangladesh floods a decade later; helping communities recover from human tragedies such as the Rwandan genocide in 1994 or the recent crisis in Darfur – with BSA members’ help, we have been able to support communities in need through our network of YMCA partners all over the world. 

Shared values

The YMCA and the Building Societies Association share common ground. Both were established in the nineteenth century (the YMCA in 1844, the BSA in 1869) and both were born partly as a response to the laissez-faire social and economic climate of the time. We continue to share many of the same values and goals today. At a time of increasing homogenisation of the high street, building societies stand out, and stand up for local knowledge and understanding, local decision-making and local accountability.

The same can be said for Y Care International’s overseas development programmes. When Terry Waite CBE co-founded Y Care International 20 years ago he knew that local YMCAs across the developing world, part of the very fabric of their communities, delivered development programmes that local people really need.

It is not just core values that make Y Care International and the BSA natural partners. YMCAs, like building societies, are membership organisations, and as building societies know well, a mutually owned organisation is also a democratic and accountable one. YMCAs are rooted in, and accountable, to their communities.

Value for money

Because mutual building societies have no shareholders receiving dividends, they are often able to offer a cost effective and competitive deal to their members. In a similar way, because YMCAs in developing countries have an already strong base of skilled people and volunteers, Y Care International’s administrative costs can be kept low to offer real value for donors’ money.

In an ideal world Y Care International’s work would not be needed. But more than ever, it is profoundly necessary. BSA members have occupied a crucial place in our work over the last two decades, and I would like to extend my sincere thanks to building society staff and members for your support and dedication over so many years. With your continued help, added to the strength and determination of our YMCA partners and the people we are helping, we are able to make a real difference to the lives of many thousands of people in some of the poorest parts of the world.

• This article appeared in April 2005’s edition of BSA News, the Newsletter of The Building Societies Association.