An exhibition celebrating 150 years of Invercargill’s YMCA will be held next week.

The exhibition comprised photographs and stories of people associated with the YMCA, now referred to as The Y Southland, throughout its history.

The exhibition is presented in partnership with He Waka Tuia.

During the past month Southlanders shared their stories and nominated the people who made a difference in the history of the organisation.

The result is 149 faces, each one a reminder of what The Y has meant to this region since 1876.

The Y Southland chief executive officer Steve Broad said it was an ambitious project to capture what The Y had meant to the community for 150 years.

“What we didn’t fully appreciate was just how many layers of memories, relationships and stories we would uncover across Southland.”

People shared stories of dances at the YMCA in the 1960s, camps and courses, lifelong friendships, long-standing gym members, new skills, education pathways and mentors who changed the direction of someone’s life.

“We have been both reminded yet blown away by the depth of The Y’s impact and the many different ways it has reached into people’s lives across generations.

“Pulling even a reflection of that into one exhibition, in such a short time, has been an incredibly challenging, but deeply rewarding and fulfilling task for our team.”

The 150th face has been left blank so visitors on the day can have their photograph taken and added to the wall.

The Y, will open its Tay Street doors on October 16 from 3pm to 6pm so people can view the exhibition.

Other activities including face painting will be on offer.

For those who can not make it that day the exhibition will be  open for viewing on Monday and Tuesday the next week.