Bevendean Gymnastics Club: Head Over Heels Above The Rest
“We’re not just a gymnastics club, we’re a community”
East Brighton Trust is proud to have supported Bevendean Gymnastics Club with grant money this year, assisting them with covering some of their costs for their Summer Camp.
In addition, they also joined up with other grassroots clubs like Brighton Table Tennis Club and VYD for the HAF Summer Camp in Moulsecoomb, which gave children between the ages of 6 and 16 years old the opportunity to take part in gymnastics for free.
It was here that East Brighton Trust met Lana, one of the Bevendean Gymnastics Club’s coaches, who’s been coming to the club since she was 2.
“It’s so good to see the kids enjoying all the equipment, we can’t usually get it all out in our gymnastics sessions in the week, because it takes too long”.
Lana told us how it had taken 11 people over three hours to set up all the gym equipment for the week, and told us about how the club are looking for a space to call their own, where the gymnastics equipment can be out all the time.
They currently store all their equipment at Moulsecoomb Primary School and practice there three times a week, but not having their own permanent place limits how much their members can practise, and they would love to have significantly more space.
East Brighton Trust were keen to find out more, so we met with Andrea, who runs Bevendean Gymnastics Club along with a team of volunteers, and were invited along to visit the club.
Andrea started doing gymnastics at the age of 7, started coaching at 16, took over the running of the club when she was 18, and she has been part of the coaching team for an amazing 33 years. The club currently has 134 members aged between five and 21 years old.
In that time, Bevendean Gymnastics Club has always been run by volunteers and currently, everyone has a full-time job and helps to run the club in their free time.
“It’s so important for everyone to be included in decision making, and we don’t want to be a business because that isn’t what drives us, but we are trying to become a CIO.
It would be good to pay some of the teenage coaches one day.
Nobody’s ever been paid”
It’s vital to Andrea and her team that the club remains accessible to all and inclusive, and in comparison to other gymnastics clubs, they charge very little in terms of fees.
Andrea told us how many of the gymnasts go on to coach, and many of the gymnasts are given the opportunity to obtain a level 1 and level 2 coaching qualification.
“Some of the older gymnasts have been coming for over 10 years, and the club means everything to them. It is, honestly, their lives”.
Andrea explained how the club is a safe space for their members, some of whom have faced issues around mental health, a lack of family support, and have other support needs. She told us about how committed she is to extending her support outside of the club at times.
“We’re not just a gymnastics club, we’re a community and a family”.
When visiting Bevendean Gymnastics Club it is immediately clear that it’s a very special and valued organisation. There’s a strong sense of belonging and support, everyone’s included and everyone’s appreciated and they are an incredibly talented and skilled group of gymnasts, too, who clearly love what they are doing, and love their club.
One of the gymnasts who has been coming for over 10 years told us:
“Coming here is like an escape. It’s like a safe space, a second home. I have always felt so welcome”.
Another gymnast told us:
“I don’t think I’d be here if it wasn’t for Bevendean Gymnastics Club. The coaches have been so supportive”.
A Permanent Home for the Club
Andrea said how a number of the older gymnasts are competing around the country and are performing at a very high level, but with the limited space and equipment available to the club, they can’t practise in the same way that others might be able to.
“Tumble tracks are usually 30 metres long, and ours is 12 metres. When they’re practising they have to stop and turn around halfway through.
Ideally, they need somewhere in East Brighton that is over 30 metres in length with high ceilings.
It’s a nightmare sometimes, but we are grateful to have somewhere.
It would be so good to have our own place”.
A deputation meeting with Brighton and Hove City Council before the pandemic felt extremely positive, and Andrea told us how they seemed interested in helping the club to find a permanent venue, but more recently, the council have not responded in the same way as before.
In the words of one of the club’s gymnasts:
“The level that we’re competing at is so good for the equipment we have.
Once a month we get to go to some other clubs and can use their equipment, and have a full length tumble track, but imagine how much better we could be if we had all the equipment to use all the time”.
If you know of a space that Bevendean Gymnastics Club might be able to use permanently, please email hello@eastbrightontrust.co.uk or you can contact Andrea directly at bevendean.gymnastics@googlemail.com.