On Wednesday 18th May, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal will officially open the final phase of YMCA’s flagship Erdington development, The Orchard. The multi-million pound development sees residents and the local community benefit from a new community sports hall and conferencing and training rooms (The Chris Bryant Centre), a new coffee shop (Eden – more than coffee) and 34 new flats in a housing scheme called The Vineyard.
YMCA Birmingham’s CEO Alan Fraser says:“It has taken 10 years to complete this remarkable development and we have had to work hard to overcome many obstacles. A Royal visit to mark the opening feels like a fitting tribute to the dedication of the many people whose hard work has made The Orchard possible. We are honoured and delighted that The Princess Royal has agreed to officially open our new development in Erdington in May.
”As well as providing essential help and support for young people who are in need of affordable accommodation, we are also expanding our training and skills network.”
Richard Brookes, Training manager at YMCA Birmingham said: “The YMCA has been well known for providing housing support for vulnerable people which we still do, and I’m proud to say that we have evolved as an organisation.
Over recent years we have had to diversify our income streams as an organisation to ensure that we can continue to provide much needed services to young people within the communities that we work. In order to do this we have a number of social enterprise activities we undertake, and I feel proud and indeed privileged to head up our Training and Conferencing department, using my experience in housing to deliver Chartered Institute of Housing Qualifications and a number of other courses to professionals within both the Housing and third sectors.”
The expansion comes five years after the first phase of ‘The Orchard’ which was opened in 2010. It would not have been possible without a grant from The Homes and Communities Agency, a very generous bequest from former YMCA Birmingham chair, Chris Bryant and grants from other trusts which he endowed. Other significant grants were received from The Garfield Weston, Foundation, The Peter Harrison Foundation, and The Fidelity Trust.