YMCA Launceston members share their experiences with the 142-year-old institution

Judy Pierce from Prospect has been a part of the Y for 46 years. She remembers bringing her children to the Y, taking exercise classes and for a long time, being a part of the Social Bowls group.

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"My sister dragged me to the YMCA in the 1970s," Ms Pierce said.

"It's changed a lot. When we first came there was a tiny little kitchen, we'd have our morning tea there, there were no rooms. We used to sit on the benches. It was very cold. It was quite small.

"The whole thing has been remodelled since then."

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YMCA Launceston announced it will close its door on June 4 due to a lack of funding. While they have worked with all levels of government, they were unable to secure funding to keep the doors open.

Ms Pierce said her Wednesday Social Bowls was always something she would look forward to.

"It was something to get out of bed on a Wednesday morning, no matter how cold it was," she said.

When hearing the news the YMCA would be closing, Ms Pierce said she was disappointed.

"I don't want to say goodbye to the centre, I want it to see it continue but that's not going to happen," she said.

"It's not only coming to play bowls, it's the wellbeing of all the people in the community and they come from some come from the Legana to play bowls, so it's not just Launceston. It's for the well being of the community because it's something to keep them occupied."

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A fellow patron of the Y and member of the Social Bowl group is Murray Scales, he has been coming to the YMCA for more than 25 years.

"My late wife was coming out here with it and when I retired, I came along and joined her," he said.

"I had bowled beforehand with her, but I came along to keep her company.

"At the time I doubled the number of men playing, there was only one coming here, so I made it two."

Mr Scales said his fondest memory of the YMCA and playing bowls was simply the friendships he gained. "The fellowship is the biggest thing that you get when together with people," he said.

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Mr Scales said friendship, connection and support are vital for people who might otherwise be isolated.

He said he had always been around people in his working life in the banking industry. "All of a sudden you retire and you're on your own, so coming into a similar group is great. It's so important, you can't live in isolation," he said.

The loss of the YMCA will hurt the whole community, Mr Scales said.

"It leaves a huge hole in the lives of a lot of people," he said.

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