While the country remains in lockdown and we are unable to train on the Trampoline, we have started our online fitness and conditioning sessions again.

As we did before Christmas, we are running sessions over Zoom for all members (and families). All ages and abilities are welcome!

This time the sessions are being run by the ever-enthusiastic Stuart, and are running each Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 4:30pm – 5pm.

Those that have joined in so far have enjoyed it, and it’s been a nice way to keep it touch and to see many of our fantastic members! Log-in details have been sent to members by email. See you there!

A fun evening was had, with over 30 people joining us for our Christmas Zoom Quiz. Screens were filled with tinsel, hats, novelty glasses, one Santa costume and an array of Christmas jumpers as members put in so much effort to create an entertaining evening.

Thanks to Glenda, Kerry, and quizmaster Stu for arranging the event. We had everything from general knowledge to cracker jokes, and congratulations to “Polly’s Ark” for winning!

While we can’t see each in person, we love staying in touch with our amazing members, and we hope to keep organising activities until we return to training.

We will be holding our AGM on Thursday 26th November at 7pm.

This year, for obvious reasons, we aren’t able to run the event as a group get-together. Instead, we will be running this over Zoom.

What this does mean is that we can keep the event shorter than usual, and it will be easier for any of our members and parents to join in and get involved.

We have already sent out our committee reports to members by email. We will be looking to fill some of the places on our Exec Committee and sub-committee. In particular, our Club Secretary as Judy, who has done a wonderful job over the last few years, is stepping down. She is happy to assist whoever takes this over with the handover.

Our current committee is as follows:

• Chairperson: Vicky Othen
• Secretary: Judy Plumridge (stepping down)
• Competition Secretaries: Anne Edward & Federica Vazzana
• Treasurer: Sylvia Comber
• Head Coach: Mike Wakely
• Funding Officer: Andrew George (stepping down)
• Welfare Officers: Stuart Sharpe, Sylvia Comber, Fi Gallagher
• Publicity Offer: Angie Owens
• Schools Liaison: Kerry Wells
• Parent Liaison: VACANT
• Health & Safety: Mike Wakely & Stuart Sharpe
• Social Secretaries: Kerry Wells (stepping down) & Glenda Edwards
• Member’s Reps: Federica Vazzana, Katherine George, Hattie Mitchell, Scarlett Othen & Lorna Plumridge
• Website: Mike Wakely & James Acott

Further to the governments’s announcement and rules regarding the further lockdown in England from 5th November to 2nd December, the club regrets that there will be no training sessions during the month of November.

We would love to be able to give members more details as this time and understand there may be questions regarding payments, online sessions, when training will resume etc. However, further information will be sent out to members when the Committee and Coaches have had the opportunity to formulate a plan.

We have survived one lockdown and we can certainly survive another hopefully shorter one. However, the club needs your support more than ever and we ask for everyone to do what they can to help keep our little club going strong. This can be done by a few simple ways:

• Keep an eye out for future notifications and respond promptly if a response is required.
• Keep in touch with us and follow our social media on Facebook and Instagram.
• Join us online for our quiz on Saturday 7th November to celebrate our 30th birthday (details have been emailed to all members).
• Join us online for our upcoming AGM on Thursday 26th November at 7pm.

Thank you in advance and fingers crossed we are all back bouncing as soon as possible.

Further to the government announcements and restrictions, we are happy to confirm that we are returning to training on Friday September 25th.

British Gymnastics have confirmed that our activity is able to return and we, as a club, have amended our procedures and carried out the necessary assessments in order to comply with the required safety considerations.

All of our members have been sent an update detailing any procedure changes in light of the current pandemic, and our specific COVID-19 Risk Assessment and Test & Trace policy can be found below (and on our Club Policies page .)

We look forward to seeing all of our members again and returning to the sport that we love!

Due to the current guidelines, Alton Sports Centre have been unable to offer us our usual Thursday time-slot as they have had to move some of their fitness classes into the Sports Hall.

As a result, our Thursday evening session has moved to a Friday from 6:30pm – 8pm. While this move is on a temporary basis, there is, understandably, no fixed time until we are to move back. We apologies to those that this is inconvenient for.

We would like to wish coaches Eloise Fuller and Scott Plumridge the very best of luck as they head off to University this week.

Both Eloise and Scott have been long-term members of the club and they have developed into fantastic coaches. We will certainly miss them, and we have received some lovely comments from parents too:

• “Scott and Eloise have been brilliant coaches”.
• “We will miss you your cheerful faces”.
• “After the inter-club competition this year she said they were her favourite teachers ever!”

Another of our members, Katherine George, has been with the club for over 12 years, and she has helped the club immensely over the years, and as a gymnast has won medals at national events and represented the regional squad on multiple occasions. She too is heading off to University.

Thanks to them all for their hard work and hope that they all have a great time at University, and hope to see them again in the future!

Thank you for your patience and we hope you are all staying safe and well. If you have been following our social media then you will have seen the update video from our Head Coach, Mike.

Alton Sports Centre have now announced that they are able to reopen. We are working hard behind the scenes to ensure that our Risk Assessments have been updated and on the changes required in order for our training sessions to run safely. Once this has all been completed we will update our members with when we are able to return to training again, and any changes to how our sessions will be running.

Our Zoom sessions have stopped for the time being, although if you have any suggestions for what you would like to see us run in the meantime then please don’t hesitate to get in contact.

We look forward to seeing you all again soon!

Thank you to everyone that has been joining us for our regular quiz and conditioning sessions. We hope that everyone has joined staying in touch with one another, as well as enjoying the sessions themselves.

As life is slowing coming out of full lockdown and people are using their time to gradually meet up with family and friends, it was decided that the quiz is to stop for the time being. Our members will all have received an email as we would like to continue this, but would like feedback as to how regular we should run these sessions. Please reply and let us know your thoughts.

As well as this, we are amending our Zoom conditioning sessions, which will now run on a Wednesday and Saturday at 4pm.

While we wait for the time we can return safely to our sport, it is so important for our gymnasts to keep fit, both physically and mentally. We urge all of our members to attend one of the sessions (family members are of course welcome too!). The activities vary considerably and are tailored to all levels and abilities.

We would especially like to extend our thanks to Stu, Kerry and Glenda, who have done a wonderful job with organising these sessions to keep our members engaged.

While obviously training is not able to currently take place and no timescales are yet available, we are continuing to post trivia, information, fitness activities and more on our social media channels (especially our Instagram and Facebook pages).

We love keeping in touch with all of our members and this includes club fitness sessions via Zoom every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 4:00pm.

We have also maintained a fantastic family quiz via Zoom every Sunday at 4:30pm.

We appreciate how tough it is for many and we are always here should anyone wish to talk or keep in touch. We enjoy seeing so many people on our Zoom sessions and keeping both physically and mentally fit is so important, both for our recreational and competitive members, espeically for when our members are able to get back on the trampoline again.

For the time being, stay safe, and we wish you all the very best.