April Newsletter, 2010
WELCOME!
Firstly, may we extend a warm welcome to all of our new members, who are
starting this term. We hope that you will both enjoy and benefit greatly
from participating in our wonderful sport. Gymnastics is a challenging
and sometimes tough activity, but when mastered, very rewarding.
NEW DEVELOPMENTS
We have many exciting projects taking place at the RGA this term. Just
over a month ago we received two letters, co-incidentally on the same
day.
The first was from ‘Sport England’ informing us that our grant
application had been approved, and that we would be receiving £10,000
to go towards the cost of a new sprung floor area (Cost £20,000!).
The second was from SITA U.K. Sita is a waste disposal firm and operates
the government’s landfill tax credit scheme, whereby they can give
grants to local charities (yes we are a registered charity) instead of
paying the tax to the Exchequer.
To cut a long story down to size, we were fortunate enough to be granted
the full £50,000 that we had applied for. So if you were one of
the 1,000 people who signed our petition, many thanks. It worked!
This £50,000 is going towards replacing our very old seating which
we acquired 2nd hand from Farnborough Recreation Centre 10 years ago when
we re-furbished our very vandalized ice rink, and turned it into one of
the top gymnastics centres in the U.K.
To make all this happen has been a long process, but what you can see
initially is that the roof on the pool side of the gym is currently being
raised to ensure that our new seating meets current Health & Safety
regulations. No more banging your head on the ceiling when you come to
events!
Secondly, during half term, a demolition firm is coming in to take away
all of the old seating. This again is to stop any disruption of classes,
and also for safety reasons. So when you return after the break, there
will be a very long blank wall down one side of the gym.
During the summer holidays, on the 19th July to be exact, the new seating,
provided by ‘Audience Systems’ , the country’s leading
supplier of seating systems (The Albert Hall etc. etc.) will be starting
the assembly of the new seating, which will take approximately 9 days.
This may encroach onto the first week of the badge courses, but all of
the heavy work will be completed before this.
We do apologise to all of those who use us, but short of shutting down
completely, which would cause massive disruption, and of course cost the
club hugely in lost revenue, at a time when we need it most to help fund
these exciting projects, we feel that we have solved the logistical problems
in the best manner possible.
We are certain however, that all of our members will benefit from these
very exciting improvements to our already fantastic facility!
BANK HOLIDAY CLOSURE MONDAY 3RD MAY
As usual we have two Bank holidays in May, the second takes place during
the Half-Term so that presents no problem. So that people attending our
Monday classes are not at a disadvantage we are inviting them to attend
one session at the same time on any other day between the 7th June and
the end of Term.
PLAYGYM CLOSURES
Due to the projects detailed above, we are unfortunately having to close
a few Playgym sessions for safety reasons. We have however kept these
closures to an absolute minimum, and do apologise to our Playgym customers.
For details please see PlayGym Times.
COMPETITIONS
The Rushmoor Gymnastics Academy hosted the British Universities Championships
during the February Half-Term and the staging of the event was a great
success thanks to the professional people we have to make these events
happen.
Tom Barnes finished in 18th place on Floor in the English Championships
competing against Britain’s top Gymnasts!
Alex Huppert finished 1st Over all in the Southern Region Championships
qualifying for the National Championships. Alex and Tom also competed
at the London Open with Alex taking 5th place on the Vault.
Amy Field, Rebecca Parramore, Holly Tyson and Rosheen Hinze have all qualified
for the Natiuonal Finals in their respective Grades. Good Luck to all
and congratulations to the coaches for their hard work!
EASTER HOLIDAYS
Easter was a very busy time for the Club, Camp went very well, as with
the running of major events our reputation is strong and we hosted a group
of 20 Belgians, one individual Belgian girl, 2 Cypriots as well as people
from all over the Country.
Camp finished at 4pm on Friday and the bed linen was on the beds freshly
laundered in time to greet the 40-strong England Squad who arrived at
5pm! We really can make things happen!
Following the departure of the England Squad, Colin had an early morning
start to pick up our South African friends from Heathrow. Their plan was
to train with us from Monday to Saturday, but the recent volcanic activity
put paid to their plans and they had to stay an extra week!
Our thanks to Phil and Pauline and Edna for preparing the delicious meals
for our guests.
HOLIDAY BADGE COURSES
We plan to run these from the 26th July for two weeks, and if there is
enough interest, Jo has agreed to run a Pre-School section. Further details
to follow.
SUMMER
CAMP
As all the parents of our competitive gymnasts probably know, Camps are
an essential part of the training programme, the gymnasts get through
a vast amount of work and learn many new skills during our Camps.
In addition, Club members have the benefit of only paying half price,
so one week amounts to £125.00 and for two weeks there is a further
reduction a total price of £215. (We have not increased our fees
for over 20 years!) Please book
well in advance so that I can arrange to have the correct number of staff.
CAFÉ OPENING
You will have noticed that we have removed the vending machine from the
Café. We were constantly having to refund people’s money
and put out of order notices on it, due to malfunctions. Eventually it
was causing more problems than it was worth, so goodbye it was!
The good news however is that the very industrious Mel and Jayne are opening
the café, initially for three days a week, to raise money for the
Club Travel Fund. As well as serving tea and coffee, they are branching
out into all kinds of snacks to tempt your taste buds.
These entrepreneurial ladies have even gone to the lengths of taking a
food hygiene certificate and can’t be praised enough for their initiative.
They would however like to encourage some more volunteers to spread the
load, so Mums, if you are stuck in the Café and would like to help
out one day a week, please give your name and telephone number to Colin
and he will pass it on to Mel and Jayne. Or if they are already behind
the bar serving, see them direct.
PARENTS WAITING
We have just two requests from parents who choose to stay and watch.
In the interests of safety (and to please the fire officer) we do ask
that ALL PARENTS do stay in the two areas allocated for you, that is the
bar and the café. If you insist on sitting in the entrance corridor
you will be asked to move as it is a designated fire exit.
Secondly, please do keep the café and bar areas clean. Since the
beginning of term we have noticed that these areas resemble the Somme
(just after the battle) at the end of every evening, with food and litter
all over the floor. This makes it very unpleasant for the people coming
in after you, and it is certainly not fair on Sarah our cleaner who works
so hard to keep the gym spick and span.
Your co-operation in these matters would be most appreciated!
THE 10TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY!
We can hardly believe it, but the 22nd July marks the opening day of the
RGA, a full 10 years ago.
We started in true RGA style by staging the final Olympic Trial –
Great Britain v Belorussia on the 22nd July 2000. On the night of the
21st at 11:00 p.m people were madly painting anything that was not moving,
while Colin’s (then) 81 year old mother was on her knees cutting
carpet tiles. My, what a long way we have travelled in 10 years.
To celebrate this historic anniversary, we are hoping to hold a ‘Hog
Roast’ at the RGA. The Club term finishes on the previous weekend,
and we think the 22nd is the last day of the school term. It is also the
date that our boys and girls teams return from a competition and training
camp in Malta – PERFECT!
If you and your family would be interested in coming to the celebrations
please sign up on the events notice board, while we will check with our
good friends down at Turners Butchers as to the numbers that we need to
make it viable. Failing the hog roast, a Bar-B-Q will still go ahead.
DIARY
DATES
APRIL
24th–25th British National Grades: Birmingham
MAY/JUNE
9th Southern Region British & Challenge, Espoir, Junior, Senior
15th-16th British Compulsory Levels 4 & 3
22nd-23rd British Team Championships
31st MAY-2nd JUNE England Squad Training: RGA
31st MAY-6th JUNE(Inclusive) CLUB HALF-TERM
JUNE
5th British Espoir Championships
6th Espoir Challenge Cup
30th Wiltshire Open
JULY
3rd-4th British Championships
11th Southern Region Out of Age
15th-22nd Malta Competition and Training Camp
18th END OF TERM
22nd 10th ANNIVERSARY PARTY!
26th-30th Holiday Badge Courses
AUGUST
2nd-6th Holiday Badge Courses
15th-20th Summer Camp
22nd-27th Summer Camp
SEPTEMBER
6th Gym Term re-starts
18th ARMY DISPLAY: RGA
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