A DERBYSHIRE man who has just been elected President of the World Council of the YMCA has said the need for the association is "greater than ever before".
Peter Posner OBE was elected head of the highest decision-making body in the association this month.
Mr Posner, who has been part of the YMCA for 34 years and is currently the chairman of YMCA Derbyshire's Board of Trustees, will guide the movement over the next four years of his term.
The 61-year-old said: "We are ambassadors of youth empowerment across the globe.
"And I see the association as more relevant than ever before due to the economic situation that we are currently in.
"It is young people that are taking a greater hit than anyone else in society.
"We are there to stand up for them.
"On a world level, my role will be to promote the strategy that was voted in at the World Conference, which is called empowering young people."
The YMCA, which stands for the Young Men's Christian Association, was created 170 years ago by George Williams in London.
Mr Williams was concerned about the lack of healthy activities for young men to take part in and began a bible study group.
Soon after, the YMCA began to address other concerns of young men and held public lectures and education classes.
Remarkably, just seven years after it began, a YMCA was formed in Boston.
Since then, YMCAs have spread across the globe with associations in 119 different countries with 11,000 YMCAs helping about 58 million people.
And it is that reach that Mr Posner believes makes the association so relevant today.
He said: "The problems that young people face in the UK are the same that young people face the world over.
"From employment to health, we make sure that young people have a voice."
Mr Posner began his voluntary work with the YMCA while working for a bank in Leicester.
He said: "I became a treasurer there because of my job and was only really going to do it for a short period.
"When I finished my time there, though, I realised that we were making a major difference to young people's lives."
From those humble beginnings, Mr Posner went on to become President of the European Alliance of YMCAs and was awarded an OBE last year for services to the movement.
But the latest appointment is something that Mr Posner, who took early retirement from his job at HSBC, is still trying to come to terms with.
He said: "It is an incredible honour to have been elected to the position.
"I was recently giving a lecture and I found myself staring at the picture of one of the former presidents, John R Mott.
"He had been awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with the YMCA and I find it incredible that I am part of that history now.
"It has yet to really sink but I am looking forward to it and I cannot wait to see what the next four years bring."
To learn how you can volunteer for the YMCA, visit www.ymcaderbyshire.org.uk
