Businesses help Honiton Gymnastics Club develop community facility

Members of the business community in Honiton have pitched in to help Honiton Gymnastics Club develop its facilities since moving into its own premises nine months ago.

When the club moved out of Honiton Gymnastics Centre and into the old Rainbow store on Ottery Moor Lane last August there was a huge amount of work to do.  As a result, many big-hearted businesses in Honiton and further afield have come to the rescue, providing the club with discounted and free materials, helping with supplies for events, and offering free labour for essential work.

“We’re astounded by the help that we’ve been given and extremely grateful to all the businesses that have helped us out,” said James Reddy, board member and HPC coach at Honiton Gymnastics Club. “It may sound clichéd but we really wouldn’t have been able to provide our members with such an excellent facility without the community’s assistance. From transporting our equipment and carrying out building works to ongoing maintenance and keeping boilers in good working order, we’ve got a great deal to thank local businesses for.”

James added: “We made the move a few days after returning from the British Championships, and – despite achieving our biggest ever success at elite level there – we had no way of knowing if there would be enough demand for ‘gymnastics for all’ in our new location. However, we had no need to worry, because interest has continued to grow – so much so that we have had to introduce waiting lists for all our recreational classes.  The support we’ve received has helped us satisfy much of this demand and provide a welcoming environment for all our visitors."

Now that Honiton Gymnastics Club has settled into its new environment it is looking forward to welcoming 400+ gymnasts and their families from all over the country to Honiton Gymnastics Centre, when it hosts the UK’s biggest acrobatic grades competition in September. "We’re extremely proud to bring the UK acrobatic gymnastics community to East Devon and show them the wonderful hospitality that Honiton has to offer,” added James.

Among the local businesses that have supported Honiton Gymnastics Club over the past nine months are:

• A1 Stitch and Print, which embroidered the changing room curtains that were bought by one of the gymnast’s grandparents
• Ben Lee (Honiton photographer), who built new changing cubicles and fitted the changing rooms out with benches, coat hooks and storage units
• Clive Burns, who fitted the club’s kitchen
• CP Plant Services, which provided a cherry picker to give safe access onto the roof
• Dave Trotman, Honiton commercial boiler engineer, who serviced the unit’s two oil boilers
• iTEC, print management specialists, which supplied a team to paint the front of the building and provided garden furniture
• Howdens, in Honiton, which provided a free kitchen
• Jewsons, the club’s next-door neighbor, which has continually provided discounted materials and arranged free-of-charge portable toilets for the gymnastic club’s annual competition
• JHB Line Markings, which for re-painted all of the car parking spaces
• Homebase in Honiton gave a 20% discount on all goods and 100 litres of free matt emulsion when the club was initially decorating the premises
• Johnny Bennett, a highly-regarded Honiton builder, who helped build new changing rooms, tiled the kitchen, and is project-managing and building a partition
• McCloskey Equipment, which provided transport for the club’s big move
• MKM Building, which provided all materials for the changing cubicles, benches and storage units free of charge
• Nu-Heat underfloor heating and renewables, which provided a variety of specialist services
• Otter Windows, which provided transport, music systems for events and is helping with windows and doors in the future
• Pheonix windscreens, which bought an Olympic gymnastic carpet to cover the new sprung floor area and assisted with the continual transporting of equipment
• Real Contract Services from Yeovil, which helped build the new changing rooms
• Chris Quick of QuickSmart Vehicle Repairs’, who provided essential MIG welding services
• Saturn Software, which provided remote camera facilities and set up the IT and networking

Honiton Gymnastics Club would like to thank all of those that have helped make its transition to an independent organization successful.  As a not-for-profit group, all surplus funds generated by the club are invested back into facilities, equipment, coach education, and the club’s future developments.  Recently – with the help of the club’s Supporters Association – this has included three new somersaulting rigs, wallbars, crashmats, flexi-roll mats, a new floor area, 25 sets of new handstand blocks, and live CCTV viewing for parents.