THE Border Counties School of Gymnastics has been given a grant to upgrade its facilities thanks to an ‘inspired’ birthday present from the Olympics.


The Oswestry-based club has recently been granted £50,000 from the Inspired Facilities Fund to pay for new toilets and changing rooms, improved access to  make its new home in the Cambrian Railway buildings warm, dry and light for its 400-plus members.
 

Head coach Helene Cook said the club was up and running seven-days-a-week following its sideways move into the larger premises designed for the ill-fated Fantastic Fun House at the former McLaren’s antiques centre.
 

She said they now had a nice big space in which to coach members whose ages ranged from 18 months to 50-year-olds and cope with the influx of new members which has swollen to around 430.
 

But the first steps to physical activity had been simply lifting the phone.
“Parents have been making the phone call that they promised to make for their children. People have told me they had been meaning to ring for a while and the Olympics prompted them to pick up the phone,” she added.
 

The club has between 12 and 15 coaches with squads of gymnasts regularly winning prizes on the West Midlands circuit.
It also provides a venue for MD Marshall Arts and Revelations Dance Academy which dovetail nicely with the core aim of gymnastics.
 

The grant from the Inspired Facilities fund comes on the club’s 21st birthday.
Helene added: We are thrilled to have secured this investment, which means we can upgrade the quality of our premises to match the quality of our coaches and the programme we deliver. We are delighted to have this opportunity to be part of the 2012 Olympics’ legacy.
The grant is part of a £135m legacy programme.
 

Sport England chair Richard Lewis said: “This fund has really hit the mark with sports clubs in Shropshire. It shows we’re offering the legacy that people want for their local community. For hundreds of clubs and tens of thousands of people, 2012 will be the year their local sports facilities got better.”