A GYMNASTICS coach has pleaded for help to find a new venue to ensure the future of the club.

Wendy Rajska, a coach at Avonbourne Gym Club, said they haven’t been able to return to the schools they used to train at due to the coronavirus pandemic, and if they cannot find a venue the club could disappear.

She said: “Like many clubs we do not have our own facilities. This helps to keep prices down so that we are accessible to as many young people as possible.

“We obviously had to close for the lockdown but we kept going by some of our volunteer coaching doing sessions online.

“We were very keen to get back to as close to proper training as we could.

“We know we can’t do the throws, balances and face to face stuff but our gymnasts are ready to go back as soon as they can.

“There was a couple of sessions we had at Littledown which we used to make sure we are observing the new rules.”

Wendy added: “We were due to go back to our schools next week. We have done all the necessary planning and we were excited about it.

“But on Thursday we had phone calls from our two main schools saying they could not have us back, we absolutely understand the situation they are in.”

The school trained at Avonbourne School and Malmesbury Park Primary School and Wendy said they do not blame the schools at all as they understood the exceptional circumstances schools are currently facing.

“We are now trying to find places that can offer us some temporary sessions,” Wendy continued.

“We can’t get back to our normal level of training which means we can’t bring in younger gymnasts.

“You need to have an environment that you can keep clean and controlled all the time.

“We are looking for somewhere to let us in for either a short period of time or as a permanent home.

“Without that the club will disappear very quickly.”

The club has been operating since 2003 and currently has 300 participants aged from four to 18 plus.

There is also a waiting list of nearly 800 children

Wendy added: “The challenges that face big sports are well documented, but most people don’t see the struggle for survival that many grass roots clubs are currently experiencing.

“These have always been vitally important in the health and wellbeing of our young people, and their loss would be incalculable.”