Afternoon tea to mark milestone

No fewer then 185 years of the YMCA in Paisley will be celebrated next month at an afternoon tea.

The Christian organisation, which has long been part of the fabric of Paisley, is still going strong today.

And members old and new have been invited to sit around the table to share their memories and celebrate the organisation, which is well known for its youth and pastoral work.

As revealed in the Paisley Daily Express, the YMCA’s Claire McGinley has been researching the organisation’s history in the town.

She said: “The afternoon tea is to bring people together to celebrate 185 years of Paisley YMCA.

“There will be past members, current board members and staff and some community representatives from the groups that use our facilities at the YMCA.

“It will take place on Thursday, August 3 and we expect about 50 to attend.”

Tracking down the guests, especially former members, was led by Paisley YMCA’s board of trustees.

“We’ve got quite a number of years of experience on our board of trustees who know all the right people to invite in terms of older members and past board members,” Claire added.

“The afternoon tea will be quite low-key.

“It will be catered by Ta Ta Bella’s, who are along the road, so we are trying to keep everything quite Paisley. And we are just confirming some entertainment at the moment. “We are having a choir and a singer. “I think we will have a few worship songs from one of the singers, so it will be quite an uplifting event.”

And the Christian ethos of the YMCA will be very much to the fore at the event, which will be held in its former base in New Street, now home to West College Scotland.

“It will be opened and closed with prayer,” Claire said.

“And there will be representatives of church organisations.”

Following the afternoon tea, people can expect to see arts displays at the YMCA’s current location at 39 High Street.

“We will have two digital TVs to display some of our archive material — we will be unveiling them in the windows of the YMCA,” Claire said.

“It will be old photos, old memorabilia on Paisley YMCA.

“We have sourced from our own collection — we have quite a vast collection in the back cupboard.

“And also David Rowand, the Paisley historian, has been really kind in helping us out with some archives and information.

“We’ve got old annual reports from the 1900s and minute books from the 1800s.”