Y.M.C.A.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 24 June 1940, Page 7

Y.M.C.A.

USEFULNESS IN COMMUNITY. A STEADY GROWTH. In the period of the depression in 1921 the Y.M.C.A. like other institutions had its financial troubles. The times of plenty following the war had passed and people forgetting the great work that had been done in the war years, began to ask why could not the Y.M.C.A. be self-supporting. The suggestion was made that the facilities granted should be paid for in full; that the gymnasium should be self-support-ing; that billiard tables should be made a source of revenue; in fact that the youth of the community should only get what they paid for. In a time of depression this altitude of mind is understandable but when this attitude was persisted in for three or four years the day came when the directors decided that the doors must be closed. It was decided to obtain a man for three months from headquarters who would be able to review ihe work and make arrangements for shutting down this branch.

Fortunately for Masterton the man who was sent to look after the interests of the Y.M.C.A. in this critical period was Mr A. E. Bate. Mr Bate was a quiet, unassuming man who spent nearly two months of his allotted three months in taking stock of the situation. He realised that the facilities were not being used and he then had to prove to the directors that it was more important to have the Y.M.C.A. used than to have it pay its way. He expounded the theory that the Y.M.C.A. was created for the benefit of the underprivileged and that if it could be proved that the work was reaching these people then the community would be willing to pay. Added to his quiet manner was a definite organising ability with the result that within a year or two the Y.M.C.A. was again getting results and was being strongly supported by the community; so much so that during the depression of 1930 to 1934 there was no suggestion that the building should close down nor that it should be paying its way. From the time of Mr Bate’s arrival in Masterton there was a steady growth in the use of the building as a community centre, and once the secretary had the youths in the habit of using the building he was able to commence his more important work of character building.