ABOUT US — YWCA

About YWCA Great Britain

Empowering young women since 1855, YWCA Great Britain invests in young women's leadership through grant funding, policy & advocacy and connecting with our global YWCA movement.

The YWCA of Great Britain traces its origins to activities initiated by two women in England, in the 1850s in response to the upheavals of the industrial revolution. In 1855 Emma Roberts established a group in her village to pray for young women going out into the world. At almost the same time Mary Kinnaird established a hostel for young women transiting through London to join Florence Nightingale in the Crimea. Miss Roberts’ prayer groups grew and spread and in 1877 the two organisations merged, the prayer groups out of a desire to engage a broader group of young women, and the service organisation an interest in deepening its spiritual work.

The YWCA is in many ways a product of empire and colonialism. Our global movement was spread by the travels of missionaries and colonial administrators. It is our responsibility as a YWCA, steeped in this history, to take responsibility for doing the work to replace racist legacies, structures and attitudes with ones focused on antiracist and intersectional justice. In doing so, we build on proud traditions in the movement where we have been at the forefront of work to advance women’s rights in areas such as the European refugee crisis after World War II, the civil rights struggle in the USA and ending apartheid in South Africa.