Opportunity Makes Way for Development The YMCA Canberra Auxiliary Stall, Y’s Buys, in Kingston has the honour of being the Y’s oldest site still in operation. Unfortunately, after 53 years the iconic opportunity shop will close it’s doors for the last time at the end of this month. The opportunity shop site, next to the Eyre Street car park, is in the Kingston Centre Planning Project Area and is due for redevelopment. The YMCA has held a peppercorn lease for the site since 1961 with the understanding that with three months prior notice the lease could at anytime be discontinued. The Kingston stall has been a reliable fund earner for the Y for many years, and while the YMCA would have liked to have found alternative premises in the area, a changing economic environment, retail competition and shopping trends has meant that relocation at this time would not be viable. The YMCA will continue to operate its Belconnen Y’s Buy Store. So the “BIG CLOSING DOWN SALE!” is now on. Everything and we mean EVERYTHING has got to go! History of the Op Shop A kiosk was constructed in 1961, as a base for the Ladies Auxiliary to raise money from donations of clothing and bric-a-brac and was re-housed in 1978 in a new building donated by Goodwin Homes and erected, at no cost to the Y, in place of the original building by the Civil & Civic Construction Company. This is just one example among many over the years of the support in kind given by local businesses and agencies. Volunteers have remained central to the Canberra Y’s operations. Especially important since the very beginning were the individuals who led the Y Auxiliary, which had its origins in the Ladies’ Committee of the 1940s. Over the years, the Auxiliary has provided a steady income stream for the Y, funding activities and sponsoring individuals and families who would otherwise be unable to participate in programs. While volunteering might be regarded as much more a feature of a past time-rich, more community-minded society, volunteers continue to be recognised as the backbone of the Canberra Y. Moving with the times, the Canberra Y is now able to tap into the modern-day equivalent of the volunteer army of the 1940s and 1950s, the growing number of men and women, mostly of a certain age, who have retired from full-time paid employment and are ready and willing to give back to the community by working in partnership with paid staff and government agencies to help the Y run programs that ease or enrich life for individuals and families in the Canberra community.
Posted on: Mon, 11 Aug 2014 07:09:57 +0000