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The first parish-based groups were founded in 1855 in Jönköping. By the late 1870 there were around 60 associations around the country, but it wasn't until 1884 that the first Swedish YMCA association was founded in Stockholm. By 1887 the National Alliance of YMCAs of Sweden was formed and Karl Fries was elected secretary. At the beginning the Swedish YMCA was a small organization that engaged mainly Christian middle class people, but as the membership fee was reduced and by hosting the international YMCA convention in 1888, which attracted around 700 members from 20 different countries, the Swedish YMCA grew in popularity.
The Swedish royal family has since the start been actively involved within the organization, starting with Prince Oscar Bernadotte's engagement in the Swedish YMCA in 1892 until present day with the H.M. Carl XVI Gustaf Bernadotte as active within the Scout Alliance. The royal enrollment in the YMCA contributed to give the organization high status which resulted in the engagement of people from the aristocratic, military and academic world who influenced ideologically and invested economically in the movement. Due to this influence the YMCA was not a popular youth association, but this was to change in the 1950s.
During the first 50 years of the Swedish YMCA the work emphasis was on charity and missionary engagements. Activities for young people, like sports, weren't prioritized. In the 1960-1970s the organization changed its structure and a new era began. The Sports Alliance was given more influence and became the largest alliance. YWCA was integrated in the YMCA and together they became a joint alliance and the missionary work and ideological stand point was questioned and diminished. These changes lead to a popularization of the organization and the YWCA-YMCA of Sweden became the largest youth movement in the nation.
YWCA
1855, the same year that the world alliance YMCA was founded, Emma Robarts and Mary Jane Kinnaird founded the first YWCA association in London. The movement had the same spread as the YMCA. In 1894 the YWCA World Alliance was founded and Sweden was one of the four founding countries. In the beginning, the Swedish YWCA associations were closely linked to the parish church, with a strong ecumenical approach in their activities. Bible studies, housekeeping, charity work were the main program items. In 1906 the Swedish YWCA had 62 associations, 5 412 members of which 2000 were children and youth involved in different activities. In 1952 the YWCA joined the YMCA.
