This year, we are celebrating 135 years of work in the local community. We have planned some events to mark this special occasion and one of them was a heritage walk, curated especially to take in the sites of special interest within the YMCAs history.

The walk, which is around 4 miles in length takes you past sites such as Pirelli stadium – where we hold Sleepout, and Reconnect, where we have housing for homeless people and where the foodbank is located.

Since its conception over a century ago, our charity has undergone a lot of changes. Originally it was set up to help young people participate in team sports and learn new skills and since evolved to housing the homeless, feeding the community and redistributing furniture and homeware.

During the walk, our group dropped into the Burton shop to visit the staff and volunteers, who have started their 135 fundraiser by cycling 135 miles on an exercise bike, do pop in and show your support the next time you are visiting Burton – we have a collection box if you wish to make a donation.

Elle, our Service Development manager said: “We have such a long history here in Burton-on-Trent and we thought it was a great way to show how embedded we are in the local community. We want to celebrate all the work we do here and also give people the opportunity to celebrate with us.”

If you are interested in taking part in this walk, check out the map here and follow in the footsteps of our charity which has many roots in Burton-on-Trent.