Since 1862, the Y has been benefitting the young people of Christchurch through a range of education and leadership programmes. The Y has cultivated the environment and opportunities that youth need in order to learn, thrive and grow into a generation of strong leaders. Alongside our youth focus, the Y takes pride in being a place of growth and opportunity for all members of our local community, including older adults and people with disabilities.
This project is the culmination of the vision and efforts of the Y Christchurch Board. The provision of funding via the government’s ‘shovel ready’ initiative means the Y’s aspirations for the youth and communities of Christchurch have been affirmed. These aspirations include refurbished accommodation for travellers visiting Christchurch, a new building for the Y’s range of ongoing community-based activities, and a range of new spaces for the community to use and enjoy, including a black-box theatre, a licensed preschool, a health and fitness centre and a dedicated youth space.
Y Christchurch is hugely grateful for the support received from Crown Infrastructure Partners
The Y remains committed to our cause statement of ‘investing in the next generation’.
Going forwards, this building will provide us with a strong foundation that will allow us to continue to deliver on this commitment.
Our vision for this building looks like bringing youth and youth services back into the city. It looks like future-proofing our current assets for generations to come.
It looks like a place for leaders, creatives, athletes, dancers, students, travellers, young business owners, NGOs and community members to meet together, grow together and thrive together.
Stage 2 New Y – started September 2021 – finish date August 2023
Stage 3 Demolition of old stadium and new carpark – start August 2023 – completed by January 2024
The Y is committed to engaging the local community and stakeholders throughout this project. As our ideas move from concept to reality, we are actively making a space for community voices to influence our decision making and be a part of the vision for the future of this building. Our focus is to ensure this space is fit-for-purpose for a number of activities and is accessible for all people.
The Y sees the opportunity for this building project to benefit the community from start to finish through our social procurement policy. This policy ensures that our partners and stakeholders are committed to doing their part for the good of the community by working in line with our vision and partnering with us to impact lives. Our build will also provide 120 much-needed employment opportunities for people in Christchurch.
The Y will continue to offer value for every person in the community and positively impact the lives of those who use our services. In particular, this new building will be a space for us to provide our charitable outputs and commitments to supporting, empowering, enabling and celebrating young people from all backgrounds and cultures. This is an investment that will provide value to the community for generations to come.
It has been great to see the building being closed up and the services starting to go in. At a recent visit from the NZ Government the comment was made that the project is ‘impressive’ in terms of how organised and on-track it is.
We plan to see the roof installed and the top floor enclosed early in the New Year – exciting stuff! The site team will be having a well-deserved break over the Christmas season and will be back refreshed and ready to go in 2023.
We recommend visitors make the most of parking in the area, including the free parking at the Botanical Gardens (for up to 3 hours). Other parking spots can be found at Other parking spots can be found at Car park map : Christchurch City Council (ccc.govt.nz).
Media Release – “Shovel Ready” for the next 150 years
Stuff Article – Shovel Ready Projects
Media Release – “Project Provides Jobs”
The Y is committed to bringing timely and relevant information for all of our users, neighbours, and the wider community throughout this build.
Updates and building information can be found in the following places:
Community is at the core of everything the YMCA does and our new building project is no different. With that in mind,
we would like to invite our neighbours, members, and stakeholders to use this space to provide any feedback, thoughts
or ideas they may have regarding our site development.
