Our History

The full name of the YWCA is the Young Womens Christian Association, it was founded in 1855 during the industrial revolution in Great Britain. Young women, drawn by the prospect of jobs and opportunities gave up rural living and moved to London city. The YWCA began in response to their needs to access safe housing, skill development, bible study and to meet other women. It was founded by Christian women and has always been open to all faiths and backgrounds.

The YWCA Auckland began in 1885 and was incorporated as a society in 1898.

What set the organisation apart from other early charitable women’s groups (in New Zealand and overseas) was that it did not focus primarily on the fallen, widowed, destitute or sick, but on the ‘employed girls’ of Auckland. At that time there was no sick pay, holiday pay, guaranteed hours and not one lunchroom for city working girls in Auckland.

The YWCA was most concerned with what the ‘girls’ did in their leisure time. It was felt the ‘girls’ needed guardians to look after their moral, physical and spiritual well-being.

The early mission of the organisation was to develop aspects of the character dulled by the daily toil of the workrooms which were the primary workplaces of young women in those times.

In those days, the YWCA did not see its role as changing the conditions of working women and only rarely offered vocational education to expand working opportunities. However, there was a huge emphasis on other activities and in 1889, the YWCA was running classes in a gymnasium with an average attendance of 20 to 40 women.

By the First World War women were entering business life in increasing numbers and preparing for professional careers by attending university. Trained women were taking over the running of YWCA branches and the traditional religious work of the association was no longer important due to the increased secularism of the community.

Members of the Y were heavily involved in a number of activities including household skills, gym work, swimming, tennis, holiday camps and other outings which were morally suitable.

By 1928, the enquiry desk at the Auckland YWCA was fielding 90,000 telephone calls and 400 written enquiries per year. The cafeteria never closed and served 64,576 meals in that year.

During the depression, the YWCA set up training schools and clubs and provided food vouchers to the growing number of young women who were becoming unemployed.

The Second World War encouraged the YWCA to set up sewing circles, first aid classes and study groups. An Air Raid Precautions Women’s Auxiliary was organized and firefighting and vehicle maintenance became part of its repertoire. Later another group was set up called the National Service Corps, which was a more militaristic but popular organisation. Alongside these groups, the YWCA provided a crèche for the wives of servicemen and the highly popular DownTown Club for uniformed women and other women in the city.

The war seemed to have definitively banished the concept of an organisation exclusively for women. A large proportion of the post-war activities included men. However, following the boom years of the 40’s, it became unfashionable during the 50’s and 60’s to be part of an organisation with a reputation which included religion and constraint.

The association paid a price for opening its doors to men and the image of the YWCA as an organisation for young women was diluted. Furthermore, the YWCA’s constituency of young women between school and marriage had dwindled. The most successful aspect of the work of the YWCA at this time was the sex education courses. On one occasion more than a thousand young women and their mothers attended an evening seminar.

The accommodation role of the YWCA faltered during the 70’s after a series of security incidents and a drop-off in occupancy rates. Membership of the organisation was decreasing and financial concerns were overwhelming.

The role of women had changed immeasurably over the 60's and new problems such as ‘role stress’ were responsible for depression and emotional collapse. Community programmes continued but the emphasis was on recreational programmes for housewives. A Step Ahead course assisted women who wished to move from the home into the workforce and a community work model took the YWCA workers out into the suburbs.

By the end of the 1970’s, the YWCA was active with its Nearly New second-hand shops, a new Hostel, a STEPS programme and self defence courses. The organisation was moving into a new era with a variety of new courses and activities.

Today the Auckland YWCA runs an active 190-bed hostel in Vincent Street which caters to a wide range of students from many countries. The occupancy rate has been at 100% for the past three year and it is very popular with both women and men.

Community programmes for women are being geared up again. The first of these are the Future Leaders Programme - a mentoring and skills programme for young women started in 2002 which today has over 190 participant and has expanded to the Far North as well as Auckland. In addition, major events for the Leading Women of New Zealand are organised by the YWCA throughout the year. The YWCA Encore programme started in 2005 and is a successfull eight week exercise programme for women who have had breast cancer surgery.