DURBAN YMCA
Accommodation Services in Durban

Welcome to the Greater Durban YMCA where we Empower Young People for Life, Leadership and Service Durban is a popular all-the-year-round holiday resort city, on the warm East coast of South Africa. Greater Durban YMCA is located in the Albert Park area of Durban’s inner-city. This community has 52 taverns in one square kilometre; a beautiful park which is infested with vagrants and drug dealers; legal and illegal immigrants living in slum conditions, being exploited by slum landlords. Our varied and exciting programmes are for the benefit of children, young people and adults living in the Albert Park area. Our facility in Kwa Mashu is the venue for programmes aimed at children and youth. Durban YMCA is a registered NPO and is affiliated to South Africa YMCA, the Africa Alliance of YMCAs, which link us to the World Alliance of YMCA’s; it is therefore part of an organisation with 45 million members in 125 countries around the world. We offer student accommodation to UKZN during the academic year, and comfortable and affordable accommodation for visitors from around the country and around the world during the University vacations. We serve over 5,000 young people with a variety of programmes aimed at improving their lives and equipping them for life, leadership and service. Durban YMCA is part of the international YMCA movement, which has its origins in London, England, in George Williams, appalled by the conditions in which apprentices and shop assistants were made to live and work, established a prayer and Bible Study group, which was the nucleus of the YMCA, established on 6 June 1844 to meet the spiritual needs of young workers. The movement expanded rapidly throughout Britain, and focussed on caring for the physical, intellectual, and spiritual needs of the young men. This threefold emphasis on Body, Mind and Spirit gave rise to the Red Triangle, the instantly recognisable international symbol of the YMCA. The actual date of the formation of Durban YMCA is unknown as the records were unfortunately destroyed in the late 1970s. There is a record of a meeting in Durban in 1864 at which the possibility of starting a YMCA in the city was discussed. By 1901 calls were being made for the consolidation of a YMCA presence in Durban, to provide a home-like boarding house which incorporated a gymnasium, various clubs and societies, and educational classes. It was the penultimate year of the Anglo-Boer War, which brought young men through the port of Durban, and drove young men to the city from the rural areas due to the uncertainty of the agrarian economy which results from war. A significantly increased number of young men in Durban increased the sense of need for a healthy alternative to the public houses bars and brothels that were flourishing in Durban. Support for this initiative came from the Natal Mercury, the Baptist Association, the Pietermaritzburg YMCA, the Durban Christian Minister’s Association, and the Durban Church Council. The constitution was adopted in December of that year. With the support of Durban businessmen, most notable Mr E.L. Acutt and Sir Benjamin Greenacre, sufficient funds were generated for the purchase of a site, and the erection of a building. The address has changed twice over the past 101 years: during the 1930s Durban YMCA relocated to the corner of Beach Walk and the Esplanade, when it purchased the Cable and Wireless building, and carried out various upgrades and renovations over the years, and in 2000 relocated to the present address 82 St Andrews Street. The aim has remained consistent: to provide a home-like boarding house which incorporated a gymnasium, various clubs and societies, and educational classes. The Young Men’s Christian Associations seek to unite those young men who, regarding Jesus Christ as their God and Saviour, according to the Holy Scriptures, desire to be his disciples in their faith and in their life, and to associate their efforts for the extension of his Kingdom amongst young men.