A great recreation hub is more than just the quality of the facility or the sum of its processes and programs. It needs a beating heart - intimately attuned to the needs and aspirations of its residents. One that ensures the benefits flow into the entire community, both inside and outside the four walls of the centre.
This is the YMCA.
Despite its global reach and impact, the YMCA remains intimately local. In every location, we co-design and tailor our services to align with the needs and aspirations of each community.
Unlike many of the commercial providers we are headquartered right here in South Australia. Moreover, we’re not for profit. So, the expertise is here, the accountability is here, the resources remain here, the benefits live here.
The Y has grown substantially in South Australia over the last decade, reflecting the productive partnerships we enjoy with government and community organisations and an expert management team with (inter)national experience. We sit at that rare intersection of having both first class operational capabilities and a genuinely purpose driven approach. Together with our partners we build healthy, flourishing South Australian communities.
The YMCA is the nation’s largest and most experienced manager and activator of local government recreation facilities. To say that our experience runs deep would be something of an understatement. All around the world “the Y” has been known as the welcoming place in which everybody from the neighbourhood can gather to get fit, swim, play sport, socialise or learn a new skill. In fact we’ve been doing this for 175 years. We are the original, and still, the best.
Reflecting this, our member satisfaction is rated as “Excellent” across all our community recreation centres, with an average Net Promotor Score in South Australia of 63. This compares favourably with world leaders in customer satisfaction such as Apple, BMW and Amazon.
As a community based not for profit, we work with our partners to stay focused on the reason recreation community assets are built in the first place - to improve the health of the community. Working with industry leader ActiveXchange, we calculate social value across all managed centres by using actual participant data which is then translated into monetary values against specific health, education and employment indicators.
Tracking, reporting and celebrating social value enables a fair discussion on the net financial impact of recreation infrastructure. Social value shifts the conversation with our partners to one of 'how do we best leverage the asset to maximise social value return?', and plays a large role with wider community support and adoption.
Recreation facilities represent a significant investment of public funds. Naturally, the preference is that they be fully utilised for public, rather than private commercial, benefit.
For this reason, in many jurisdictions around the world, most public recreation facilities are managed by a for benefit entity (either the council themselves, or a non-profit specialist most commonly the YMCA).
As a non-profit social enterprise, that has been part of the fabric of South Australia since 1850, an appointment of the Y as the manager and activator of recreation and aquatic assets is always well received by the community. Who else can bring all of the operational expertise of the sector leader, the lean commercial discipline of an entrepreneurial enterprise and the heart of an NGO that reinvests its all back into the community?
More than just a “facility manager”, the YMCA is a developer of communities. Our impact reverberates well beyond the four walls of the centre. The Y welcomes and serves all people including the most disadvantaged or marginalised. As a benevolent non-profit we partner seamlessly with other organisations and are continually reaching out to, and reinvesting in, our local communities.
The YMCA is a significant employer of young people in this State. We have around 750 staff, the largest proportion of whom (around 60%) are South Australians aged 16-30 years.
YMCA South Australia was the first organisation in the country to have all its facilities quality accredited by AUSactive (formally Fitness Australia).
The Y is world famous as a safe and welcoming place for all, and perhaps particularly for young people. In Australia the Y has a rigorous national safeguarding program, regularly independently audited by the Australian Childhood Foundation (ACF).
7,351 YMCA members across 7 of SA's biggest and best recreation and aquatic centres.
59,532 student visits and close to 12,000 classes run annually.
356,086 social sport participants playing basketball, netball, futsal, volleyball, and more!
24,588 student visits annually in recreational gymnastics across 2 locations in metro Adelaide.
A brand new $21m multi-purpose recreational facility built in 2018 in the suburb of Woodville, Adelaide. At 9,000m2, it is Adelaide’s largest indoor sporting complex featuring a six-court indoor sports stadium with a dedicated skating rink, 300m2 24/7 Gymnasium, café and a fully licenced function centre. In the first full year of operation, the Centre finished $24k favorable to budget.
Following a $24m redevelopment in 2013, the centre now boasts modern facilities including an indoor 25 metre pool and learn to swim pool, splash park, two court stadium, Kidsclub, group fitness studio’s, functional training zone and fully equipped health club. Over the last three years the Centre has seen membership increase 64%, swim lesson enrolments increased 52% and a massive $7.1m of Social Value generated for the local community.
Opening in 2017, the $22m aquatic facility located near Victor Harbour opened, featuring a 25 metre lap swimming pool, multi-use hydrotherapy pool, leisure and program pool, outdoor ‘splash and play’ park, gym and group fitness facilities. The YMCA has transformed the greenfield site into a vibrant community hub, driving 2.5X more participation and 68% more memberships than initial business case estimates.
After undergoing a $14 million redevelopment the Centre reopened to the community in March 2017. The facility boasts a 25-metre lap swimming pool, multi-use hydrotherapy pool with beach entry, spa, sauna and water slide facilities, accompanied by a three-court multi-use basketball stadium and three squash courts. Since the re-opening of the facility, the YMCA has re-established the facility’s community connection with memberships peaking at 991 and swimming lesson students increasing to 460.
The full-service recreation facility opened in 2007, featuring a gym, indoor heated pool, outdoor pools, stadium court, squash court, group fitness studio, child-minding, café and licensed bar operations. After ten years of operation, the Clare and Gilbert Valley Council opted to test the market, putting the Centre's management out for tender. Within two years the YMCA reinvigorated the Centre, raising total membership by 77%, swimming lessons by 78% and retention by 21%.
A brand new $21m multi-purpose recreational facility built in 2018 in the suburb of Woodville, Adelaide. At 9,000m2, it is Adelaide’s largest indoor sporting complex featuring a six-court indoor sports stadium with a dedicated skating rink, 300m2 24/7 Gymnasium, café and a fully licenced function centre. In the first full year of operation, the Centre finished $24k favorable to budget.
Following a $24m redevelopment in 2013, the centre now boasts modern facilities including an indoor 25 metre pool and learn to swim pool, splash park, two court stadium, Kidsclub, group fitness studio’s, functional training zone and fully equipped health club. Over the last three years the Centre has seen membership increase 64%, swim lesson enrolments increased 52% and a massive $7.1m of Social Value generated for the local community.
Opening in 2017, the $22m aquatic facility located near Victor Harbour opened, featuring a 25 metre lap swimming pool, multi-use hydrotherapy pool, leisure and program pool, outdoor ‘splash and play’ park, gym and group fitness facilities. The YMCA has transformed the greenfield site into a vibrant community hub, driving 2.5X more participation and 68% more memberships than initial business case estimates.
After undergoing a $14 million redevelopment the Centre reopened to the community in March 2017. The facility boasts a 25-metre lap swimming pool, multi-use hydrotherapy pool with beach entry, spa, sauna and water slide facilities, accompanied by a three-court multi-use basketball stadium and three squash courts. Since the re-opening of the facility, the YMCA has re-established the facility’s community connection with memberships peaking at 991 and swimming lesson students increasing to 460.
The full-service recreation facility opened in 2007, featuring a gym, indoor heated pool, outdoor pools, stadium court, squash court, group fitness studio, child-minding, café and licensed bar operations. After ten years of operation, the Clare and Gilbert Valley Council opted to test the market, putting the Centre's management out for tender. Within two years the YMCA reinvigorated the Centre, raising total membership by 77%, swimming lessons by 78% and retention by 21%.
For an exploratory discussion about how the YMCA might help develop greater wellbeing in your community please contact our CEO, David Paterson.
Or if you have specific needs in relation to your recreation, aquatic and leisure infrastructure, please contact our COO, Andrew Mundy.
The operation of the Centre, in every way, exceeded Council’s expectations. All Key Performance Indicators were met on time every time, the actual cost to Council will be approximately $100,000 under budget when June is wrapped up, and on top of that there has not been one complaint that has been escalated to Council from the YMCA’s management of the Centre during that 12 monthsDirector Corporate Services — Clare & Gilbert Valleys Council