Anger as world's first YMCA to close after being sold to hotel chain

The world's first YMCA is set to close in the New Year after it was sold to a luxury hotel chain owned by a billionaire property tycoon.

Central YMCA, which originally opened in 1911, is currently central London's largest gym and also provides health and education programmes to the local community.

The huge 116,000 sq ft building on Great Russell Street has now been sold to Criterion Capital and will shut in February 2025.

Invented in 1844, the YMCA was founded by Sir George Williams as a prayer and bible study group for young men working in the cities.

Since then it has gone on to provide a fitness space, education and a support for homeless people across the world.

YMCAs across the world are responsible for inventing the sports of basketball and volleyball, establishing the poppy as a symbol of veterans lost in war and a number one hit for The Village People in the 1970s.

The current site at 112 Great Russell Street is set to be closed due to 'demographic changes and soaring maintenance costs'.

 YMCA members say the loss will be a blow to the local community and fear the building will 'just become another hotel'.

One member described it as 'one of the biggest injustices to ever happen' in London.

The huge building will now be owned by Asif Aziz, the property tycoon dubbed 'Mr West End' due his string of properties in central London including the London Trocadero.

Mr Aziz owns £3.6billion worth of property in London under his company Criterion Capital.

Josh Von Uexkull, 28, has now set up a petition to stop the closure, which has soared in popularity with over 4,800 signatures.

The artist, from Camden, has been a member at the centre since he was three years old and has worked there as a fitness adviser and lifeguard for 25 years.

He said: 'I was absolutely devastated. There are heartbreaking stories coming in about how the older members can't sleep because they have heard the news.

'I think this will be one of the biggest injustices to ever happen in the city as a whole.

'The members and staff were not consulted at all. We feel completely helpless.

'It will be incredibly difficult for some staff because this is the only place they can do their job. This will be absolutely life-changing for them.

'I work here because of my love for it, I could be paid better elsewhere.'

Despite losing his own job, Josh says his main worry is the over 3,000 members who will now have nowhere to go.

One member, Garry Brough, 57, from Camden says he first attended the YMCA in 1997 to take part in their Positive Health Programme for people living with HIV.

The NHS worker says the classes were a 'lifeline' for him, helping him build up his fitness as he was suffering from lung cancer and pneumonia.

The programme even inspired him to start teaching Pilates classes at the centre, which he has done for the last 20 years.

He said: 'The YMCA completely transformed my life. I don't know what I would have done without it.

'People really depend on the community programmes. It was a lifeline to me.

'It is not just a gym, it is a hub for people to connect and feel a part of something.'

Mr Brough received an email telling him about the closure, which was devastating for both him and his class.

He added: 'It has been a huge shock. I couldn't believe it was closing. It is astonishing that you can give lifelong members two months' notice.

'I hope there is something we can do to stop this. It is shocking to think that the idea of community health and wellbeing has been deprioritised to make another hotel.'

The site includes a 25-metre swimming pool, a sauna, steam room, six exercise studios and a cycling studio.

Alice MacDonnell, 35, has been taking her 12-year-old son Toulouse to basketball practice at the YMCA for four years.

The single mother-of-one from Soho says the centre is an integral part of the community, being used by all the local schools as well as older residents.

She said: 'That place is so important, you get people from every background and every financial bracket.

'They provide something for the community that nowhere else does in central London. It will be a complete depletion of resources for the community.

'It is insane. There is definitely an agenda to move families out of central London, and we need to fight back. Children are being designed out of London.

'It just seems really unfair. Everyone wants to save it, we would all be happy to pay more just to keep it there.'

Leigh Wildman, 62, says he is really disappointed by the news of the closure as he has been swimming weekly at the club for the last four years.

The musician from Soho, who was born round the corner from the YMCA, says he was hoping to use the centre to keep fit in his retirement.

He said: 'There is a really lovely atmosphere at the YMCA. It is fantastic and very affordable for someone like me - a working Londoner.

'I can't believe it. Where are we all going to go? I think it is a terrible shame.

'This is another disappearing part of London that is going to be swept away so that they can make the city into a theme park for tourists.'

Many more members have been banding together to oppose the closure, even starting the Save the Central YMCA Club.

Central YMCA chief executive Ryan Palmer said: 'CYMCA has always adapted to meet the changing needs of the communities we serve. 

 'Today that means recognising that as a charity, there are ways we can make a far greater impact in the communities we serve.

'For a number of months, the trustees and senior leadership team at CYMCA have been conducting a strategic review to determine how best to deliver for our beneficiaries in light of the mounting challenges facing the charitable sector.

'With demographic changes in the city centre; the ageing of the Club building and accessibility and spacing issues; changes to health and wellbeing practices, and soaring site maintenance costs, it has become clear that the cost of operations at the Club are now not being covered by the number of members the Club can sustain.

'Therefore, after much consideration and with the best interests of the charity and our beneficiaries at heart, we have concluded the sale of the 112 Great Russell Street site.

'This means that the Central YMCA Club at 112 Great Russell Street will cease trading on 7th February 2025. 

'Our operations, including our education services and programmes across the country, will still continue and we still have CYMCA club sites at Kings Cross and Moorgate.

'We want to continue to break down barriers to access and education, and to meet the needs of the less privileged and under-represented in ways that will prove most valuable to them. 

'This sale will allow us to reinvest in more sustainable, impactful, and forward-looking ways of broadening our service provision, better serving both existing and new communities.  

'I am sincerely grateful to everyone who has contributed to the Club over the years. Our priority now is our Club members and staff, and we will continue to support them in any way we can.'

Omar Aziz, of Criterion Capital, told Hospitality Investor: 'This acquisition is a partnership founded on trust and mutual respect.

'From the beginning, our shared vision with Central YMCA has been to recognise the importance of this historic site, while transforming it into an economically viable and vibrant space that meets the needs of future generations, ensuring it remains relevant and meaningful to contemporary needs.'

The history of the YMCA 

While it is most famous for a song by The Village People in the 1970s, it has a long history of supporting young men.

 In 1844, 22 year-old draper George Williams joined 11 friends to organise the first Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA), a refuge of Bible study and prayer for young men seeking escape from the hazards of life on the streets of London.

The group soon grew and attracted men from across London, by the end of the 1840s, the YMCA included public lectures and education classes to address other concerns of young men working in the cities.

 In 1851 YMCAs started opening around the world, starting in the US and Canada.

In 1873, the first YMCA holiday centre opened on the Isle of Wight. Its huge popularity led to 25 others opening. Billy Butlin later adapted the idea and created his own purpose-built holiday camps.

 In 1879 the American YMCA opened its first gym, an idea quickly adopted by the British YMCA just two years later.

The YMCA has also been responsible for the creation of world famous sports. Basketball was invented in the American YMCA in 1891 and volleyball was invented by the American YMCA four years later

During the First World War, the YMCA provided soldiers with food and a place to rest on the frontline or at home in military camps.

The red poppy was introduced by an American YMCA worker and went on to become a worldwide symbol for those lost in the World Wars. 

In the Second World War, it supported displaced people, prisoners of war and refugees.

During the 1970s, the YMCA increased its emphasis on young people most in need, focusing on homelessness and unemployment.

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.