Prepared for YMCA England & Wales by Adrian Taylor, 2026-10-05. If you work there and would rather this page came down, say so and it comes down.
YMCA England & Wales: what the records show, and what we could do together
Adrian Taylor runs Charity in a Box, after twenty years working in charities and public services. About Adrian.
1. What you say, and where we read it
We read your website (YMCA England & Wales | Supporting Young People) and your public channels.
“At YMCA, we provide these critical foundations for a fresh, strong start for young people and a better quality of life in the community.” (ymca.org.uk/about)
Figures you publish: “By the time he died in 1905, there were 45 YMCAs running all over the world with an incredible membership of more than 700,000 people.”; “As part of a worldwide movement, we help more than 65 million people in 120 different countries.”; “Today, YMCA has grown to serve more than 65 million people in 120 countries regardless of age, race, gender, sexual orientation or socio-economic background.”
Your channels: youtube (read); x (closed to readers, not read); linkedin (closed to readers, not read); facebook (closed to readers, not read); instagram (closed to readers, not read).
2. Young people, from outside
2,789 charities are in the field by name or membership. 19,728 other charities say in their own latest report that they serve the same people.
Young people2,789 charities
Education/training10,938
Religious activities6,456
General charitable purposes6,134
Poverty relief4,909
Disability4,104
Health4,066
Economic/community developme…3,791
Arts, culture, heritage, sci…3,722
Amateur sport2,562
Recreation2,082
Disability services200
Mental health163
Local infrastructure149
Families with young children126
Veterans124
Learning disability102
Hospice care86
Cadets86
the fieldother charities naming its people, by register purposeof those, in another field on this site
Your members against the rest of the field
Measure
Members
Rest of the field
Fragile (share)
46%
14%
Government-dependent (share)
8%
6%
Reserves, months (median)
2.6
3.5
Income change over returns, % (median)
39.3
69.1
Report names the people (share)
93%
78%
Areas with little or no presence of your network, those with the most residents on low incomes first: Tower Hamlets, Newham, Blackpool, Enfield, Brent, Luton, Oldham, Rochdale, Liverpool, Knowsley.
Researchers who studied how charities support people with dementia across the United Kingdom concluded:
“National and local data sources could help charities and commissioners begin to identify inequalities of provision.”
Mayrhofer, Goodman, Lafortune, Smeeton, Littlechild, Shora and Bunn, Voluntary Sector Review, first published 2021. Read the paper.
This page is that view for your field.
3. Sample campaign
Three posts in your voice from the figures above, each with its picture, ready to use. Every figure is from public information and no charity is named.
Bluesky / X: 19,728 charities outside young people say in their own reports that they serve the same people, against 2,789 in the field. Who they are, by what they do: https://www.charityinabox.uk/offers/ymca-england-wales.html
LinkedIn: 19,728 charities outside young people say in their own reports that they serve the same people, against 2,789 in the field. Who they are, by what they do: https://www.charityinabox.uk/offers/ymca-england-wales.html
Built from public information; no charity is named.
Bluesky / X: 46% of the network's members show under three months' reserves or three years of deficits, against 14% of the rest of the field. https://www.charityinabox.uk/offers/ymca-england-wales.html
LinkedIn: 46% of the network's members show under three months' reserves or three years of deficits, against 14% of the rest of the field. https://www.charityinabox.uk/offers/ymca-england-wales.html
Built from public information; no charity is named.
Bluesky / X: 54 of England's 152 county and unitary areas have little or no presence of the network for the people counted there; Tower Hamlets, Newham, Blackpool first. https://www.charityinabox.uk/offers/ymca-england-wales.html
LinkedIn: 54 of England's 152 county and unitary areas have little or no presence of the network for the people counted there; Tower Hamlets, Newham, Blackpool first. https://www.charityinabox.uk/offers/ymca-england-wales.html
Built from public information; no charity is named.
What your field can't see from inside it: the page on our site, in full, refreshed each quarter.
£1,500, £4,000 or £9,000 a year, by your income band, never negotiated
The members' licence
Each of your members gets its own view: where it stands beside the rest of the field, what is thin in its area, who else is at work there.
included in the year
A campaign from the findings
Posts and pictures in your voice from your field's own figures, for your channels.
£250 a month
The first month: a twenty-minute call, your page in full within a week, and the first campaign posts the week after. Prices are set by income band from the public register and are the same for everyone in the band.
5. How to say yes
Reply to the email with a day that suits, call or text Adrian on the number in the email (it is on the Contact page too), or write to adrian@charityinabox.uk.
What this can and cannot say. These are counts over groups of charities and places from their own returns and reports and from national statistics. They do not rank any charity, name any, or say why. A thin field is one where the known network is thin for the people counted here, not one where nobody is helped.
Built from public information: the Charity Commission for England and Wales register and the annual reports charities file with it (OGL v3.0); Census 2021 (ONS); the English Indices of Deprivation 2025 (MHCLG); the Claimant Count (ONS). Privacy.
