PROGRESS OF Y.M.C.A.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVII, Issue 20722, 15 November 1930, Page 8

PROGRESS OF Y.M.C.A.

SERVICE FOE 75 YEARS FORTHCOMING ANNIVERSARY, EARLY HISTORY RECALLED, The seventy-fifth anniversary of th® foundation of the Young Men's Christian Association in Auckland will he celebrated in conjunction with the general meeting for this year to be held on November 27. The Auckland Association was founded by Mr. R. B. Shalders and the first meetings were held in the founder's garden in Chapel Street in 1855. Owing to the fact that the association has possessed five buildings in the course of its history, and one of them was destroyed by a fire which swept a large area of old Auckland, very few records of the early days of the association are in existence. Prior (o his arrival in Auckland, Mr. Shalders had resided in London for fivo years, during four of which he was a member of the London Y.M.C.A. committee. He left London at the end of 1851 and arrived in Nevr Zealand in March, 1352.

"My connection with the London Y.M.C.A. so impressed my mind with the value of such a society that I resolved after landing in Auckland to take the first opportunity of starting such an association, preparatory to which I invited six youths to meet at my house for a Sunday afternoon Bible class," stated Mr* Shalders in his reminiscences. Funds For Building. After the founding of the Bible clasi Mr. Shalders was invited to a meeting of Sunday School teachers, over which Mr. John Williamson presided, where he offered to give a lecture on the work of the London Association. This was de» livered in the Mechanics' Institute, the predecessor of the Public Library, and re« suited in a resolution to form a Y.M.C.A* in Auckland. A committee was later appointed, Mr. Williamson being chairman and Mr. Shalders secretary, and th# association came into being. At first meetings were held in a small building in Mr. Shalders' garden, while a site was purchased and a collection was opened for funds for a building. In four hours £2OO was subscribed.

A comfortable building was constructed in Durham Street, a lending and circulating library being included. The aver* age attendance was at that time 50. Th« first president was Mr. J. Rout, who waa followed by Dr. Bennett, and there was an honorary committee of 25 prominent men in Auckland. The first report, presented in 1855, showed a satisfactory state of affairs, while the first annual meeting was presided over by the Governor, Sir Thomas Gore-Brown. Building Lost in Fire. From 1856 to 1863 the association continued to progress, one of the functions it developed being to visit ships on arrival in Auckland and meet immigrants. In 1865 the association suffered its first reverse. A large fire swept an area on the east side of Queen Street, in the vicinity of Durham Street, and among the build* ings destroyed was that of the Y.M.CA. Many of the books and papers were safely removed before the fire reached the hall, the annual meeting having been held the previous evening. The association's third building, which was erected on the corner of Albert Street and Wellesley Street West, in 1868, was a double-storeved wooden structure. Among the social services offered by the association at this period were a library and reading room, Bible and evangelistic services, lectures, and winter classes in book-keeping, shorthand, elocution and singing. The association continued to use these rooms until 1886, when a fourstoreyed brick building was constructed on the same site. This building is still standing, but has since been remodelled. Expansion of Activities.

The activities of the association wer® widened from time to time, until it was deemed necessary to erect the present building in Wellesley Street East in 1913. The opening ceremony, which took placa on April 30, 1913, was performed by the Governor, Lord Liverpool, the president of the association, Mr. A. C. Caughey, presiding over the gathering. Among thosa who were pi-esent were the then Prime Minister, Mr. W. F. Massey, and th« Mayor, Mr. C. J. Parr, now Sir James Parr. The opening took place almost 60 years to a day after the first Bible class meeting had been held in Mr. Shalders"' house, and Mr. Shalders, who was then 88 years old. was present. Among those who gave an impetus to the work of the association was the Rev. J, S. Hill, later Bishop of Equatorial Africa, under whose leadership the brick building in Albert Street was erectecL Associated with him and worthy of men* tion were Dr. Kenderdine, Mr. W. S.i Wilson, Mr. J. L. Wilson, Mr. Thomas Buddie, and Mr. W. Brakenrig. In recent years many prominent citizens have been associated with the movement, among these being Mr. W. J. Holdsworth, Mr. W. E. Bush, late city engineer, Mr. C. H. Furness, Sir George Richardson and Mr. C. J. Tunks.