Dereliction to a Dream

Aim

Acronova gymnastic Club has been successful in obtaining a large 10000 sq ft derelict sports hall from the local council . The building is currently being refurbished and re-developed to make it usable for sport activities. The club (All Volunteers)promotes and encourages the sport within local schools, disability groups and local communities,and provides facilities for other organisations to participate in exercise and keep-fit activities. We have spent £140000 at present and need £60000 to finish the project for the young children in this deprived area.

Acronova is  a dynamic, community-led organisation offering and organising gymnastics training, coaching and competitions as well as social and fund-raising events. The Club has both British Gymnastics’ “GymMark” & Sport England’s “ClubMark” Accreditations - specialising in sports acrobatics, we are one of only three clubs in the Merseyside area to have this award. We have also been recognised as an olympic legacy club thanks to our successful Sports England funding bid.

What we do

We have a number of driven and enthusiatic coaches ready to help develop the childrens strength, flexibility, balance, co-ordination and self-esteem and the gymnastic environment itself also helps enhance their social and teamwork skills. All coaches and club associates are fully qualified and we can also boast GymMark and ClubMark accreditation as an acknowledgement of the quality running of the club. As such, you can rest assured that all the children are getting active, making friends and having fun in a safe and welfare-focused environment. We provide a variety of classes suited to various ages and abilities and are especially proud of our mixed disability class. Our coaches are committed to continuous professional development which helps to ensure your child's gymnastics career is characterized by professionalism and best practice and our squad system provides a means for your child to set themselves the challenge of progressing.

Members of the club have won over 200 medals in competitions including gold medals at the the British Championships both in floor and tumbling and winning ‘Gymnast of the Year’ in sports acrobatic, and also winning 2x  Wirral sports volunteer of the year, and a Wirral sports young volunteer of the year.

Our reseach shows there isn't any large, specialised, purpose built Gymnastic facilities on the Wirral, and advanced Gymnasts have to travel considerable distance. We are in the unique position as our facility will have both full specification competition floor and a full F.I.G Tumble track, which is perfect for hosting major competitions Also we are finding to the economic recession people cannot afford the monthly fees charged by a lot of clubs. Our committee met and decided to cut subscription fees for every member by 27% making our fees the lowest, compared to other clubs in the Northwest.

Gymnastics across Wirral

At present, the provision of Gymnastic training is fragmented and somewhat limited in the Wirral area. There are four other gyms catering for Gymnastic and 1xTrampolining activities however, this provision is of limited scale, costly and mostly with very restricted client bases and opening times due to the competing demands on the facilities (Local Authority schools and leisure centres)

We are in the unique position as we shall have our own facility which will open longer hours to cater for the increased demand in this sport due to the 2012 London Olympics

http://www.bbc.co.uk/thingstodo/activity/gymnastics-10.

Why we do it

Gymnastics provides pleasure for children with and without disabilies, and gives them the opportunity to meet new people and make new friendships, breaking the isolated mould many low income and underprivileged community’s fall under. Children develop a sense of self-belonging and confidence through social cohesion. Participation in sport improves the development of peer relationships, establishes the notion of trust and builds teamwork skills. Gymnastics challenge all children to excel physically and mentally, and teach valuable skills such as leadership, hard work and perseverance which translate beyond the playing field to all aspects of life, whether it be in the classroom, at work, or in the community.Children are everything, our hopes, our ambitions and our future. We want to go further, we want to maximize the opportunities open to them – to improve their life chances, to change the odds in their favor.
our main aims are for every child, whatever their background,disability or circumstances, to have the support they need.

               • Being Healthy By training and enjoying good physical and mental health and living a healthy                             lifestyle.
               • Staying Safe; By training in a safe, comfortable and aesthetic warm environment and being                               protected from   harm and neglect. by not being on the streets.
               • Enjoying and achieving, getting the most out of life and developing the skills for adulthood.
               • Making a positive contribution, being involved with the community and society and not engaging in                  anti-social or offending behaviour.
               • Economic well-being Not being prevented by economic disadvantage from achieving their full                          potential in life.

How much of a difference having this facility will make:

This project will have a major impact that will allow all children, young people from the community access to a first class facility, leading to an increased participation in the sport, which in turn could lead to finding more exceptional talent in the sport. Involvement in sports is an integral part of a childs development ,and teaches youth to lead active, healthy lives while developing many of the fundamental skills necessary for a child to succeed. Acronova Gym Club organised and along with our partners, a number of free coaching courses for individuals to obtain a qualification in visual awareness and disability in sport. There was a 100% uptake with extra course's added enablied over 120 individuals, including coaches from various sports providers including L.F.C and Everton F.C from the Northwest, to start inclusive class's for all across the region This facility will allow disability and grass root sports to develop and allow more people to participate in sport.

What will the Money Allow us to do?

With funding we would complete the facility through:

A lift that is needed for our disabled members.

• Internal insulation
• Extra lighting
• Toilet accessories
• Landscaping the external area

This will provide a safe, happy warm enviroment for all the children and members.

The Building: 

Local business's have already helped by installing the renforced glass (Glass Rooms), a kitchen (Wicks D.I.Y) fencing (Network Rail)Volunteers have helped to build changing facilities, office, toilets, reception, viewing /cafeteria area for parents. We have also installed a biomass heating system thus making a contribution to the environment by cutting C02 emissions by approx 100 tonnes (98%) annually and also reducing our energy costs by some 99%, by having souced the fuel free of charge, and by also installing low energy lighting have also reduced our energy consumption by some 95%. We shall continue to make further cuts in emissions by installing internal wall insulation. This will also educate our members for decades to come and will Improve the aesthetic qualities of the facility, making it a more pleasant and comfortable facility for the children of the community to be able to use at anytime.

The club has a monthly newsletter, notice board and website, which keeps the children/ parents and our partner's up to date with progress. Communicating with the children is very important in getting their views and their feedback on various items, including the project which is being undertaken.

Our first event will be to hold an Open Day, inviting all of the local community groups, local schools, youth and disabled groups and all of our other partners to come to the centre and try out the activities available and be fully involved from the outset.

The Evening will be for invited guests and various celebrities (confirmed) from sport, T.V, Radio, sport partners, sponsors and media .We are in talks with a V.I.P to officially open the club, this will generate enormous interest from national media enabling the club to gain maximum publicity. We will continue to develop this facility and activities and we anticipate that it will become a focal point for the sport in Wirral.

We look forward to continuing with the development of links with community groups, schools and businesses in the area and will welcome participation in our activities by anyone who is interested and can contribute positively to the running and well-being of our organisation.

From all of us at Acronova, thanks for all your time so far, we wholeheartedly hope you will take us up on our rewards and support our project either through pledging or sharing with your own networks.

This project closed unsuccessfully on 27th February 2014