This meeting was initiated by the YMCA of Nuremberg and YMCA Germany with the aim to to further explore potential new partnerships with YMCA’s in China, using the partnership between YMCA Nuremberg; the Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong and the YMCA of Guangzhou as an excellent example.
These three local YMCA’s work together already for more than 5 years and are expanding their mutual programmes and exchanges of volunteers in the upcoming years. In 2013 a delegation of these YMCA’s visited the YMCA Europe Festival in Prague. Also representatives of the City YMCA London; of the Cape Flats YMCA in Cape Town (South Africa) and of other local YMCA’s in Germany took part in the discussions exploring the potential of such local-to-local partnerships between YMCA’s. Mr. Karl Lau (General Secretary of the Chinese YMCA in Hong Kong) and Mr. Guo Yun (General Secretary of the YMCA of Guangzhou) very much stimulated the founding of new partnerships between YMCA’s in different Chinese cities and local YMCA’s in Germany and in other European countries.
YMCA Europe President Ed Eggink spoke about the work of YMCA’s in Europe and the strategic priorities of YMCA Europe. The General Secretaries of both Chinese YMCA’s showed much interest in further exploring the possibilities for partnerships between Chinese YMCA’s and YMCA’s in different countries in Europe and offered to be the “bridge builders” between potential new partners in Europe and in China.
Sebastian Vogt, in his role as Chairman of YMCA Europe’s Ten Sing group, invited the Chinese delegation to bring Chinese Ten Sing groups to the Ten Sing Festival in 2018.
