Central YMCA saw a 60-strong ‘flash mob’ protest by campaigners earlier this month, led by Chris Pan

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THE fight to save the world’s first YMCA continued on Monday as a deputation of campaig­ners urged the council to get more involved.

The Extra reported in early December how Central YMCA in Great Russell Street had been put up for sale with members warning that a vital leisure service will be lost, especially for older users.

The campaign wants a six-month reprieve from a scheduled closure date of February 7 and for a meeting to be brokered with the buyers, Criterion Capital.

The Central YMCA has said the facility is no longer financially viable.

The gym remains the largest in London with a 25-metre swimming pool, a sauna, steam room, exercise studios and a cycling studio.

While all councillors have said they support the campaign, supporters in the chamber and the public gallery were told there was nothing that Camden could do to stop a private sale.

Instead, the council has already started offering taster sessions at the Oasis Sports Centre in Holborn for people looking for somewhere to swim and stay fit.

Bloomsbury ward councillor Rishi Madlani said he had been told that the sale had been completed when he met managers of the Central YMCA, although David Bieda, a member since the current building was constructed in 1977, said he had heard otherwise.

The campaign said that with an investment of around £50,000 facilities could be upgraded and prove popular.

Mr Bieda said they were not asking for the YMCA to continue running the site but wanted an incoming operator to offer similar services.

Councillor Sue Vincent, a former deputy leader of the council, said she wanted more investigation into the original sale of the site by Camden to the YMCA in the 1970s and grants given to it over the years.

Councillor Nadia Shah said the council had already gone through the documents at the time and there were no clauses that could be used now to push the closure date back or halt the sale.

She said: “It is really important to be clear that Camden Council does not hold decision-making authority over this closure.”

Now a worldwide movement, the Young Men’s Christian Association was established in 1844 and the charity has had the current Great Russell Street site since 1977.