YMCA Norfolk refused to let young people wait for the support they needed.
Last week, YMCA Norfolk’s PTP project was named the winner of the inaugural Global Community Wellbeing Impact Award at the 21st YMCA World Council in Toronto, Canada, becoming the first organisation in the world to receive the honour. The project was selected ahead of strong competition from projects in Australia, Singapore and the United States.
Through its Professional Therapeutic Pathway (PTP), funded by the Norfolk & Suffolk Integrated Care Board, YMCA Norfolk has reduced mental health waiting times for children and young people from more than 12 months to under 55 days, offering more than 60 different pathways to wellbeing. Since 2023, the programme has changed more than 1,200 young lives.
The award celebrates projects that make an exceptional contribution to improving wellbeing in their communities.
Judges praised PTP’s innovative approach to reducing waiting times and its commitment to providing holistic, relationship-based care that supports young people and their families.
With an average of 80% of young people reporting improved wellbeing following support, the programme has become a powerful example of how flexible, person-centred approaches can transform access to mental health services and improve outcomes for young people.
Carlos Madjri Sanvee, Secretary General of World YMCA, said“The World YMCA Impact Awards honour some of the very best of YMCAs’ work all over the world. We received many high-quality submissions across the four pillars of our global strategy, Vision 2030, and YMCA Norfolk came out a very deserved winner under Community Wellbeing. The Therapeutic Pathways project perfectly illustrates what YMCA does – it transforms lives – and how we all loved what John Lee said when he received the award that ‘The YMCA is a place of hope and healing”
UN Assistant Secretary-General for Youth Affairs Felipe Paullier said at the awards ceremony. “I want to congratulate you, not just for what you have achieved, but for the choices you make every day, to serve. Trust has to be earned locally year after year, and this is the way that the YMCA has earned its trust. The work that you in the YMCA lead is a genuine inspiration for what we in the UN are trying to achieve on the global level”
John Lee, Chief Executive of YMCA Norfolk, said:
“This award is international recognition of the difference being made here in Norfolk. We are incredibly proud to be the first organisation to receive the Global Community Wellbeing Impact Award.
It reflects the outstanding work of our PTP team and therapists, and exemplifies the shared values, quality and commitment that run throughout YMCA Norfolk.
YMCA Norfolk has been recognised not just for delivering therapy, but for our belief in relationships, supporting families, seeing the whole person and never giving up on a young person. It is hugely encouraging to see those values recognised on the world stage.”
The award was presented at the YMCA World Council in Toronto (19–25 July 2026), the largest gathering of the global YMCA movement. More than 1,300 delegates from over 100 YMCAs worldwide attended the event, making this recognition a significant achievement on an international stage.
