Sport Northern Ireland Project Re-Boot: Activate has provided £5,000 of match funding
Building Back Stronger
Londonderry, Derry and Strabane, United Kingdom
Aim
Our Project aim is to Build Back Better than before by erasing debt caused by the pandemic & investing in our staff, volunteers & community.
About Us:
Twisters Gymnastics Club was founded in 2003 by Terri Fisher, a lady who's enthusiasm for gymnastics is infectious. As a child Terri attended class with her 4 other siblings and many other cousins at her local community centre. As she grew up she realised the provision for Gymnastics in her area was basic and opportunities were limited and she set out to do something about it.
Our Facilities & Staff:
Twisters Gymnastics started with no capital funding or premise, the coaches could only access limited equipment and time at local leisure centres and schools for hire. Sourcing funding and development opportunities for coaches, staff and volunteers over time, Twisters grew and developed into the great dedicated gymnastics club it is today. Located at Pennyburn Industrial Estate in Derry, our Facility is 15,000 sqft and is kitted out with International Gymnastics Federation approved equipment for both Men's and Women's Artistic Gymnastics. We also have a preschool area, foam pits, trampolines, fast tracks and air-tracks and offer gymnastics to lots of different people from recreational and competitive gymnasts to gymnastics for families and gymnastics themed birthday parties. Our core audiences are Women & Girls, families and young people aged 3yrs-18yrs.
With a coaching staff of 12 including adult volunteers and a Leadership Academy of 24, Twisters Gymnastics currently provides gymnastics to over 500 people per week from kids who have just learned to walk, to adults revisiting the sport or entering into it for the first time.
Our Achievements:
In the past 10 years alone, Twisters have won several Northern Ireland Championships competing with clubs all across the Home Country. In 2013 Twisters won the City of Derry Open. Between 2014 and 2017 we created 7 National Champions through competitions at Gymnastics Ireland and competed Internationally in Malta and Milan. We placed 2nd in the Maiden City Cup in July 2016 and in 2014 Head Coach Terri Fisher received the Development Coach of the Year Award from British Gymnastics.
Our Project:
To address the financial stresses we are experiencing due to arrears caused by the pandemic and invest in our staff and volunteers to increase opportunities at Twisters. We want to Build Back Stronger than before by investing in our workforce and volunteers allowing us to increase our timetable and attract more women, girls, boys, young people and families back to Twisters Gymnastics Club and reach or smash our previous membership figures of 800.
How we will do this:
1. Stronger workforce in numbers- During the pandemic we lost some really experienced and valued members of our team as they had to seek work elsewhere due to our closure, we had no choice but to reduce and cancel classes as we were lacking in staff. We will use the funding to invest in attracting new people to our Sport and workforce and coach them to be coaches, so we can reopen new classes.
2. Stronger Staff- We will invest in our current staff to upskill them to a higher level within the British Gymnastics coaching pathway to increase opportunities for both coaching staff and club members to realise their potential. We will also bring in higher level coaches from further afield to support coaches' and gymnasts' learning and development.
3. Stronger Volunteers- We will educate our Young Leaders and adult volunteers on the pathways within British Gymnastics for learning and development and fund them to get their first qualifications in coaching, judging, first aid, manual handing and fire safety to support them to meet their own aspirations within gymnastics.
4. Purchase new Equipment-We will purchase new equipment to replace our old and worn down equipment so that we can support children and coaches to continue working on their education within gymnastics and attain their goals.
This project successfully funded on 16th February 2022