As we look back on an incredibly busy and positive 2025 at YMCA Taunton, one thing is clear – none of this would have been possible without the continued support of our community, partners, volunteers and participants. From packed events and successful fundraising, to major building improvements, we accomplished a lot during the year!
A Year of Change: Building & Accessibility Improvements
This year marked a huge step forward for our facilities thanks to the YIF building project. We were thrilled to finally move out of our temporary reception in the delightful shipping container in the car park and into our new and improved building.
We now have new meeting rooms, refurbished social area, our CEO has an office (after 10 years without one!) and of course our amazing new climbing hall. Accessibility was also a key focus during the building work so we now have a lift from the ground floor to the new areas on the first floor, plus a new platform lift from the reception level to the lower ground floor. These improvements significantly improve access for people with mobility needs to ensure that our space is welcoming to all.
These improvements would not have been possible without the support of our funders and partners, including the Department of Culture, Media and Sport and SIB for our major grant, council funding that enabled us to purchase furniture, and our wonderful builders Wrencon Ltd, who supported the building works and sponsored our climbing wall.
We welcomed EQUANS and Avon & Somerset Police, who took part in a corporate volunteering day, helping with painting and installing a new ceiling – making a real and visible difference to our space.
Bringing People Together: Events & Activities
Even though parts of our centre were closed for much of the year, we endevoured to maintain our community connections and held events that brought people of all ages together and created welcoming spaces for everyone. Highlights included:
- SEN Parent Voices: provided a vital space for parents and carers to be heard and supported
- LEGO Family Day: encouraged creativity and quality family time and was exceptionally popular
- Easter and Christmas Bingo: our bingo sessions are always popular and open to the whole family
- Spruce Up Saturday: the community came together to improve our centre and it was a very successful event
- Preschool Graduation: recognising children’s growth before they leave for school
- Outreach: the Taunton Together event along with smaller sessions at Puriton and Richard Huish got us out and about to meet the public
- Creative Workshops: graffiti art and painting workshops gave people the chance to express themselves creatively
- Quiz night: raising funds while having fun with friendly competition
- Festive Fayre: a wonderful highlight to end the year with a fabulous grotto and lots of free activities
- Preschool Nativity: a chance for parents and carers to get together and enjoy a special festive event
Each event played a key role in making YMCA Taunton a lively, inclusive hub throughout the year.
Supporting Our Community
Through our community pantry, Talking Café, youth and preschool services, and trusted relationships with local partners, we reached families and individuals who were struggling behind closed doors. This work was only possible thanks to the kindness of local businesses, community groups and partners and their kind donations.We shared food hampers, care packages, toiletries, treats, warm packs, vouchers and gifts – and in some cases, essential household items like rugs to help make homes warmer and more comfortable. This included:
- Community Pantry events were held 4 times during the year, supporting local people with access to affordable food and essential items. These sessions played an important role in supporting households through the ongoing cost‑of‑living challenges, while also creating welcoming spaces for conversation and connection.
- Free food – such as fresh fruit and veg, bread and pastries – available several times a week for anyone in need. This service and the Community Pantry is only possibly due to the kind donations from local supermarkets: M&S, Co-Op, Sainsbury, Asda, Lidl, Tesco and Morrisons.
- Young Carers Gifts – Christmas and Easter gifts for Young Carers, alongside a dedicated Young Carers Christmas party. Thank you to the Christmas Sparkle Project, Silk & Cells, Nandos, Pophams and Achieve for the generous donations that made the gifts and party possible.
- Christmas hampers for families and individuals experiencing financial hardship. Thank you to Pophams Saddlery, WI and BTC for the generous donations that made the hampers possible.
- Rugs – brand new rugs were donated to a family who were unable to afford carpets, helping make their house feel like home. Thank you to Arty Rugs for the donated rugs.
These moments of support may be small individually, but together they made a meaningful difference during challenging times.
Supporting Young People & Families
Supporting young people remains at the heart of everything we do. Throughout the year we delivered:
- Youth Clubs – two clubs each week, one for juniors and one for seniors
- Young Carers Group – our weekly session offers a fun supportive space for young people caring for a relative at home
- Holiday activities and HAF (Holiday Activities and Food) programmes, ensuring children and young people had access to positive activities during school holidays
- Preschool – we continue to educate around 50 preschoolers each week
- Fitness Classes – we hosted weekly Parkour and Judo classes, and our space was used for teen dance sessions and kickboxing classes.
- Outreach – meeting young people at various spots away from the centre
Fundraising, Donations & Grant Success
We were delighted to see so much generosity from individuals, schools, local businesses and grant funders, including:
- Bargain Buys: the lovely customers supported our charity collection pots at the till and raised £301
- Tesco: we were chosen for the blue token Stronger Starts scheme in April and awarded £1000
- Half Marathon: Mike Phillips kindly ran the Taunton Half Marathon for us and raised £290
- Kings College School: we enjoyed a visit from Kings School for students to learn more about the work we do. We were delighted with their unexpected donations to our Community Pantry and a cheque for £100
- Achieve Day Support: kindly donated £100 for Young Carers party food £100 worth of vouchers for us to distribute to families to help alleviate food insecurity over Christmas
- Festive Fund: we received £500 from Somerset Community Foundation to help us provide free activities and refreshments at our Festive Fayre
- Help Through Winter Fund: we received £16k from SCF to help us provide storage for our free food service and setup a trial community cafe
- Taunton Town Council: awarded a grant of £4871 to buy furniture for our new space and £1481 towards our Taunton Together provision
- TX Maxx Foundation: £500 was very gratefully received
- Easyfundraising: Thanks to our supporters we raised over £100 when they shopped online.
- Platform Lift: We were able to install a new wheelchair platform lift thanks to a S106 grant of £4240
- Lidls Toy Bank campaign donated £250
- Kitchen equipment thanks to a grant of £7330 from CAB and SCC
- Furniture: the High Sheriff of Somerset awarded a grant of £1250 and SCF awarded £3500 to help us furnish our new areas.
Crowdfunder Success: New Climbing Wall
A major milestone this year was the successful Crowdfunder for our new climbing wall, which received fantastic backing from the local community and raised £6771. The support shown will have a long‑lasting impact, creating new opportunities for young people, families and climbers of all abilities in Taunton. We are also proud to welcome Wrencon as a sponsor of the climbing hall, and Taunton Leisure as a route sponsor. Special thank you also to Sport England for match funding half our original target – a fantastic £1650! We appreciate all local groups that donated including Porter Dodson, Green Days Day Care and The Monkton Players. Huge thanks to Nando’s in Taunton for a generous donation of Chicken Cheques that were really popular as rewards on the crowdfunder!
New Classes & Activities
We were delighted to welcome several new classes to the centre in 2025, including:
- Flamenco Dance Classes
- JacFitt ladies only fitness
- Dance with Bobbie teen dance sessions
Recognition, Media & Milestones
It was fantastic to see our work recognised throughout the year:
- Our CEO Clare featured on BBC Radio on 13 September, sharing our story and impact
- YMCA Taunton appeared in the local newspaper nine times
- We welcomed a visit from the High Sheriff, who spent time at YMCA Taunton with our Young Carers group
- Judo Sensei Richard celebrated 40 years of Judo with YMCA Taunton, marking a major milestone for a much-loved club
- Richard was also recognised by the British Judo Association with a Certificate of Achievement for his long service and we were happy to provide one of our new rooms for the celebration.
Behind the Scenes: Systems, Training & People
To support our growth, we introduced a new online booking system, making it easier for customers to book activities and check availability.
Training: Our team continued to invest in learning and development, including courses on strategy, safeguarding, food hygiene, allergy awareness, first aid, digital fundraising, impact measurement, marketing, video creation, CRM development and youth worker training. This wide range of education helps strengthen skills and knowledge across the organisation.
Volunteers: We were delighted to welcome new volunteers Shirley and Barbara, whose time and dedication already make a real difference. We are also very grateful to Adrian for not only volunteering his time to expand our wifi, but for generously donating the equipment to do so. Our existing volunteers Adam and Mike continue to help us every week and are invaluable, along with our volunteer judo coaches. We also really appreciate the ad-hoc help we get at events from volunteers, including staff family members who get roped in to help!
Staff: Preschool have had new staff join, along with two new apprentices. Climbing Hall Manager Logan joined us at the end of 2025. Thank you to all our wonderful staff for always going the extra mile and volunteering their own time at our events.
Coming in 2026
Looking ahead, we’re excited about what’s coming next at YMCA Taunton. Plans for 2026 include:
- Climbing sessions making full use of our new wall
- Breakdancing and additional movement-based activities
- Podcasts and creative workshops, giving young people new ways to share their voices
- Filmmaking projects, building skills and confidence
- Community Cafe with Achieve Day Support
Thank you
We would like to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who supported us in 2025. It was challenging at times, with the building work, and part closure of some of our facilities, but we really appreciate everyone that continued to use us and we hope you can now see the benefits the improvements will bring. We are incredibly grateful to all our volunteers and staff, whose dedication makes everything possible, and to all our users and supporters for being part of the YMCA Taunton community.
We’re excited to build on 2025 and continue making a positive impact across Taunton in the year ahead.
If you’d like to get involved, volunteer, or support our work, we’d love to hear from you.
