The YMCA...

During training you will be staying in the Watford YMCA. Many people give bad reviews of this accommodation but its free and you get a free meal everyday. I honestly liked the YMCA. It wasn't fancy or amazing but it was what you need from a living space.

Firstly I'm going to talk about when you first arrive at the YMCA. You go into the reception and fill in a form, hand in your photos and then get given a key. This key will have a room number and a letter on it. Mine was '3053B' the 3 meant level 3 and the B meant bed B. All beds have letters and you are assigned a bed which i very fair. After you get given your key you will need to go in the lift and find your room. There may or may not be girls in the room but they should be expecting you so don't be too nervous. I would then find your bed, and get a bit settled. Unpack a little get out some toiletries, make your bed etc. Make it into as much of your space as you can.

On level 2 there is a computer room, wifi and a community are. There is also the canteen where you can get your dinner from everyday. To do this you walk in and in the queue on the wall is a sanitizer pump and a scanner. You need your room key for food, as on the other side of your number is a bar code. You scan this and a slip for food prints out. In the canteen there is also salad and jacket potato sheets where you can book them. You have to do this either the night before or on the morning of the day you want them.

In the YMCA there are 3 iron and boards and you can collect them at any time from reception but you can only use them in the hallways of your floor. You will usually find that in the mornings someone will get an ironing board and every girl will use it.

There are only 3/4 washing machines available for Steiner girls. You have to book them on the morning you want them and you do this at 7am at reception. Its first come first serve so if you get down there and there are already 4 people wanting machines you wont get one. I usually went down half ready at 6.50 to get them. If you cant get one then you can wash your stuff by hand in your sink.

That's all I have to say about the basics of the YMCA. I'm now going to shortly tell you about the area it is located in.

Literally as soon as you walk out of the YMCA you are in the town centre. There is every shop you can think of and a massive shopping centre. This is a massive bonus. At the end of the high-street there are clubs and bars which are really good to go to. Me and my friends went out to celebrate when we passed exams etc. Our favourite bar was Lloyd's Bar. You have a curfew so make sure you remember this and don'

t get drunk if your going to the academy the next day. The bus stop is directly outside also and the bus journey is around 30 minutes. The YMCA is also very close to 2 tube stations - 'Watford Junction' and 'Watford High Street'.

I really enjoyed staying at the YMCA, I don't have much negatives to say just apart from i wish there was more washing machines but its not a big issue as i had a sink in my room.

Thanks For Reading

Meg Rose

xxx