Andy Ran The London Marathon

Andy Maudsley completed the 2019 London Marathon course in support of #TeamYMCA in a fantastic 3 hours and 56 mins! That’s an average pace of 8min 27 secs per mile and if any of you run at all, you’ll know that’s a pretty fast speed to maintain for that distance. We are so very proud of him and his achievement and we cannot thank him enough.

Andy is husband to Anna, our Director of Accommodation, Care & support. Andy has been a fabulous supporter of The Y and previously took part in Race to the Stones; a 100 kilometre non-stop run or walk along the Ridgeway (The Chilterns to the North Wessex Downs).

This year we were delighted that Andy received a charity marathon place from YMCA England & Wales and as his local YMCA we’ll also receive a share of his fundraising. We just wanted to share with you an update after the event. If you’d like to support his efforts, the fundraising is still open and any contribution would be massively appreciated. You can donate online here through JustGiving.

On behalf of Andy, Anna and all of us here at The Y, Thank You to everyone who has donated to Andy’s marathon and wished him well.

            

Sitting down with…The Just Us League

Who are you and what do you do?
We are The Just Us League, the UK’s premiere, nerd-culture comedy double act! We’re currently touring our award-nominated show MARVELus: All the Marvel Movies… Kind Of (The unofficial Marvel parody show) It’s a sketch show/love letter about the Marvel movies.

What are you bringing to The Y Theatre?
We are bringing TWO shows to The Y; in the afternoon, we’re bringing a very special children’s show and we’ll be performing our normal (grown up) version in the evening.

If you could be on stage with anyone, who would it be and why?
Not technically on stage, but we’d love to be onscreen with the cast of the Marvel movies

What are you watching?
We are both feeling extreme sleep deprivation due to watching the midnight showing of Avengers: Endgame last night!!

Name one thing you can’t live without and why
Right now? Coffee.

Name one thing you really hate and why
Spoilers!! We’re currently on social media, calling people out. HAVE SOME SELF AWARENESS, YOU INCONSIDERATE TOOL!!

 

Describe your show with one GIF —->

Why should people come and see your show?
Because it’s hilarious – we get such amazing feedback from fans of the movies as well as people who have no idea; the show is for everyone!

See The Just Us League at The Y Theatre with MARVELus on Sunday 19 May.

Eggxtra Appeal Thank You

We had a huge turnout of support for our little Easter egg appeal which we named “The Y Eggxtra Appeal”.  We would like to thank every single wonderful person that donated a chocolate egg so that we could give something to each of our young people and service users. An Easter egg is a small item that can just bring a smile to someone’s face and brighten their day.

A small act of kindness and generosity means so much to a vulnerable young person so thanks to these marvellous people, every single one of our young people had a chocolate egg for Easter.

Latin Fitness Camp
Eileen Richards Recruitment
Gallagher Insurance
Asda Oadby
Hot Water Bottle Network
Luke and Heather Clark
Patricia Tyler-Dale
Jean Baxter
Michelle Hill
Timothy Trussell
Anna Guyatt
Kathryn Hamylton
Claire Perry-Brown
Amy Rankin

Sitting down with…Half a String

Who are you and what do you do?
We are Half a String, and we create theatre shows with powerful stories, intricate puppetry and atmospheric live music. We love transforming sets that keep our audience guessing what is next, and love having families come as see our shows and share in the experience together.

What are you bringing to The Y Theatre?
We are bringing A Heart at Sea, an epic musical folktale told on a miniature scale.

If you could be on stage with anyone, who would it be and why?
Charlie Chaplin – it would be very fun and he is a genius performer with amazing ideas and flawless physical comedy.

What are you watching?
We are enjoying Fleabag and Alan Partridge on the BBC at the moment, slightly different audience and would not recommend children watching either! (but both are very good)

Name one thing you can’t live without and why
Our Bandsaw, we make everything ourselves and wouldn’t be able to do it without it.

Name one thing you really hate and why
Loose shoes in a car/van pack. We have banned it, they are really annoying and keep falling out every time we open the boot, hate is a strong word…but this does apply.

Describe your show with one GIF

Why should people come and see your show?
A Heart at Sea is magical experience. There is a heart-felt story, amazing live music with live looping on stage (some of which you can join in on). There is a transforming box all with hand carved scenes that fold out in front of your eyes, and puppets that will excite and captivate you!

See Half a String at The Y Theatre with A Heart At Sea on Sunday 14 April at 2pm.  For more info and to book click here!

The Y “Eggxtra” Appeal

Could you buy one extra Easter egg and donate it to a young person?

We would love to collect 101 or more Easter eggs so that we can give one to each of our young people.  This is a very quick and simple gesture that anyone is welcome to undertake. Simply drop your donation in at Reception whenever you walk past our East Street building. If we receive all donations by Thursday the 18th of April, we’ll be able to distribute a little Easter gift to all residents and service users on Easter Sunday. We hope you all enjoy the festivities and invite you to spread a little bit of chocolate happiness here with us if you can. If you have any questions at all or would like to contact us about this, please email [email protected] or call 0116 204 6208.

Ending Period Poverty at The Y

Period poverty is very sadly on the rise in the UK.


According to research by Plan International, 1 in 10 girls between 14 and 21 have been unable to afford sanitary products. 49% have missed an entire day of school because of their period.

There is still too much stigma attached to periods and sanitary products and unfortunately, for those with limited income, they are unaffordable.

Missing out on opportunities because of a lack of sanitary products is unacceptable. In the Spring Statement, Chancellor Philip Hammond announced Government funding for free sanitary products in all English secondary schools. This is a huge step in the right direction.

Here is the BUT!

There are many sections of girls and women in our society that fall through the gaps in new and existing schemes.

Here at the Y, we are 100% committed to providing free sanitary products to our young female residents (aged 16 to 24) to ensure that they do not miss out on any opportunities while we are helping to get them engaged with education, training and employment. We are ensuring none of our young people have to choose between essentials like food and sanitary products. We are making absolutely sure our young women never have to go without or use unsuitable, unhygienic and unhealthy alternatives. We provide all of our young women with free sanitary products for the duration of their stay.

Exactly the same stands over at The Y Support Project. The homeless women that use this service also receive sanitary products whenever they are needed.

This is not a new initiative for us; we have been doing this for a while because we passionately believe that these products should be accessible to all.

Our supporters

We couldn’t do this without the support we have received from the community of Leicester in various ways and our thanks must also go to them. Here are just a few.

De Montfort University students: We received a fabulous donation from a group of students who chose to support The Y in this way as part of one of their modules of study this year.

Christmas Shoebox donors: Christmas shoebox supporters very generously donated sanitary products and female specific shoeboxes to The Y during our December appeal.

Elisha Mukri: Elisha drummed up support and awareness amongst her friends and contacts to provide another generous donation of sanitary and hygiene products.

  

Want to get involved?

We’ve told how we help and what we are committed to. If you would like to help end period poverty in Leicester, please do get in touch. You can make a donation of sanitary products or you can make a monetary donation specifically for this cause. The Y houses 101 young people at any one time across our two sites and our move on houses. We also provide homeless adults through Y Support Project. Your support would mean these vulnerable girls and women will not miss out on suitable sanitary protection because it is unaffordable. To find out more or ask about getting involved, please contact [email protected] or call 0116 204 6208.