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Our Origins
Back in 1975 the club provided two-hour gymnastics sessions on three evenings per week but over the next fifteen years the club gradually grew in stature and steadily acquired most of the equipment necessary to provide good gymnastics facilities. This growth was due, not least, to the fund raising efforts of the committee members and the Christie Miller Sports and Social Club. |
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In 1993 Melksham was identified as one of two sites for a gymnastics Centre of Excellence in the Sports Council's Southwest Development Plan. It was hoped that a new centre could be built by 1995 and the idea began to form in the minds of those closest to the running of the club that it could not only find a new home but at the same time might provide the new Centre of Excellence. With this in mind the club changed its name to the Wiltshire School of Gymnastics (WSG) and applied for educational charity status which it received in 1994. The founder of the Charity as Rod Lewis and his fellow Trustees at that time were Colin Harrison, Paul Wiltshire, Margaret Morgan and Duncan Botting.
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Moving Out of Christie Miller
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Rejection, Rescue, Success and Despair
The Lottery
application was submitted in
December 1995. The Lottery rules stated that no part of
a project could begin until any award was made and the club was
therefore only
able to do work on the building in order to comply with building regulations
or health and safety rules. And meant that it had to operate without changing
rooms and other facilities.
By August 1996 no decision had been received from the National Lottery Sports Fund and a quarter of the building was sublet to Boomerang Soft Play Centre to help meet rental payments. Then in December 1996 the news was received that the application had been rejected this time round but the club was advised to reapply as the project was viewed positively given the social standing of its catchment area. At the same time the competition successes were mounting as were membership numbers and it was therefore thought worthwhile to raise the necessary funds to produce a second Lottery application and this was submitted in May 1997.
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In August we were still waiting to hear the outcome and the club's finances were dwindling. In fact the trustees worried that by the time a decision was received WSG may no longer exist. Despite this it was decided that if the club was going to fold it would go out it with a bang |
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and afund raising drive was launched. The trustees contacted the local MP Michael Ancram who agreed to lend his name to the appeal and help publicise it in the press. Letters were sent out to anybody and everybody who might possibly be able to help. |
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The appeal was a success. Somerfield Supermarket donated £3,500 and arranged a Christmas raffle which raised a further £1,000. HTV television donated £1,000, Barclay's Global Securities £500, Melksham Town Council £200 and parents donated to their club as well. However, things got tense again in November 1997 when the option to buy the building expired. Spirits were low because without funding the future looked bleak. The Lottery hinted unofficially that negotiations to buy the building could start, which gave hope that funding would be forthcoming and negotiations to buy the building could begin. The position was formalised in January 1998 when WSG was awarded £457,724 towards the purchase and refurbishment of its rented accommodation. Unfortunately celebrations were short-lived as negotiations to buy the building collapsed and as the National Lottery award was linked to the specified property the club could not proceed with the project to create permanent home for the future. Spirits were dampened to say the least! |
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A
New Plan is Hatched |
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Another National Lottery application was meticulously prepared and submitted by June 1998. This officially closed off the first award, so that funding was lost forever irrespective of whether the new bid was successful or not. At that time the Lottery only funded 65% of a project, which meant that WSG had to find the other 35%. That task was helped by a letter of agreement from National Westminster Bank for a loan of £155,000 and funding from Sports Match and the Foundation for Sports and Arts as well as various sponsors and £15,000 loan from West Wilts District Council.
Membership continued growing and by this time exceeded 400. The club was open six days a week and hosting county and regional competitions. To help the club expand its activities as a competition centre the Southwest Sports Council provided three tiers of expandable seating on permanent loan. However, the rental commitment was starting to take its toll and the club was forced to reduce its rental payments thus building up rent arrears.
Wading
Through Treacle
By the Christmas 1998 negotiations with the Lottery reached an impasse.
The Lottery were not convinced that the club could build a gymnasium for the amount
suggested in the application and added a requirement for the project to be put out to tender.
This would have cost the club £65,000 with no guarantee of success
and was money it simply could not raise.
Luckily the architects convinced the National Lottery that the project was viable and the £65,000 therefore did not need to be found. Detailed discussions with the National Lottery Sports Fund continued throughout the spring of 1999 but the club's financial predicament continued in the absence of a decision on the funding and the rent arrears were taking their toll.
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Success
again! In part to publicise its success and in part to hopefully attract additional sponsorship the club took a stand at the West Wilts '99 Exhibition and began serious planning for its future. The first stage was to find a contractor to undertake the building work and the project was therefore put out to tender. The successful bidder, Wiggins Gee, was subsequently appointed and a provisional start date was set for November 1999 for the project that was planned to take 6 months. The projected completion date was April or May 2000. Tracy Skirton, one of the county's top coaches, was signed up to be Director of Coaching and to run the new centre and the situation was finally looking very positive. |
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Another Body Blow
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The period up to Christmas was spent looking for additional sponsors so that the overall loan burden could be potentially reduced and enquiries were made with other financial institutions with a view to refinancing the club's entire credit facility. To this end, Lieutenant General Sir Maurice Johnston KCB, OBE, the Lord Lieutenant of Wiltshire, offered the use of his name in support of the campaign. The outcome was positive and in January 2000 HSBC provided a loan facility of £190,000. The Lottery was informed that the club's finances had been sorted out. |
In February agreement was reached with the landlord to clear the rent arrears and negotiations started to extend the club's stay in the existing building until the new gym was ready for occupation. Negotiations with Wiggins Gee led to a firm start date of 2nd May 2000. Work then began and progresses steadily over the summer. A picture gallery of the building work as it progressed is available here.
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November 2000 -
the long-awaited move |
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Royal Opening in 2001
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Rather than lay on a display of gymnastics we wanted the Princess to experience a working gymnasium. Seating was provided for parents and the gymnasts undertook a normal training session with one or two displays intermingled. The session was a great success and everyone attending enjoyed the experience.
In addition to meeting the assembled trustees, staff and VIP guests, Princess Anne also met and talked to the gymnasts alongside whichever piece of apparatus they happened to be training on as she passed by on her tour of the facilities.
The final official duty of the Princess' visit was to present the Lottery cheque for just over £1/4million to the club.
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Success builds success
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Shortly after moving to our new home our top gymnasts competed for the first time in the British Women's Team Championships against 17 other clubs from across the UK. WSG came a fantastic third, coming home in bronze medal position. Not only was this great for those who competed but it laid down a marker that high quality gymnastics was coming out of our brand new home. Later in the year, Sam Bayley was crowned British Champion in the Espoir Championships and Jessica Coombs clinched silver in the Level 4 British Age-group Championships.
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Success continued in 2002. Four of our top young gymnasts were selected onto the British Under-12 Squad. Shannon Morse and Leanna Clarke were crowned British Champions in their respective age groups with Jessica Coombs again coming home with silver. Sam Bayley was selected onto the British Olympic Squad as she continued her preparations for hopeful selection onto the team for the 2004 games in Athens.
Moving into 2003, Sam Bayley won the Junior English Championships, while our girls again performed well in the levels competitions with Shannon Morse taking bronze with Jessica Coombs close behind in 4th place. All three girls, together with 4 others from the club were members of the British Squads. In the Summer the club came second in the Bill Slater Team Championships.
| 2004 was also a success. We retained a total of 5 gymnasts in the British Squad and Jessica Coombs and Shannon Morse were selected to represent Great Britain against 4 teams from Holland and Germany, coming home with gold medals. |
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In 2005 a young WSG team (Back row Shannon Morse, Hannah Wickens, Jessica Coombs. Front row Katie Moffat, Leanna Clarke, Pip Higgs), competing in the very first round of the 2-day Bill Slater Club Team Championships came home triumphant with the trophy and personal gold medals. |
