It has been one of the most challenging years in the Y Victoria’s 176-year history. We entered 2020 as a nation devastated by the bushfires raging across the country. Then, as we began to recover from a tragic summer, the global coronavirus pandemic turned everything we had planned, both at work and in our personal lives, upside down.

My first full year as CEO of YMCA Victoria and Kingswim has been unlike anything I ever could have imagined. The leadership team and I had to make some of toughest decisions of our careers and I am truly grateful for the support of our whole Y community: staff, volunteers, our Board, our local council partners, our customers, members and participants – everybody who has the Y in their lives and had to make a sacrifice this year for the greater good.

Unprecedented. It’s probably the most overused word in 2020, but accurately describes the devastating events we as Victorians, as a nation and as a globe have experienced this year. Before I reflect on the year that was, I want to thank our staff and volunteers. Your hard work and dedication is always inspiring, but this year you have shown incredible resilience and made sacrifices that have helped the Y get through the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s hard to put into words how grateful and appreciative I am of you.

I look back at 2020 as a seminal year, where its challenges have tested all of us at times but have also given us the opportunity to innovate, grow and overcome barriers to support the community and its young people.