Club facilities update – January 2019
Dear parents
It’s now almost two months since we left Honiton Gymnastics Centre, and a huge amount of work has been going on behind the scenes to keep the club running, plan our future, and secure a new home for all of our recreational and competition group gymnasts.
We know how frustrating it can be to be waiting patiently (for you and for us!), wondering what our next steps will be, but we’ve also been acutely aware that we don’t want to release information too early, giving false hope of situations that might not materialise.
While, unfortunately, we haven’t got any big announcements just yet (and cannot go into much detail), we wanted to keep you abreast of some of the things that have been going on in the background and assure you that we’re doing everything we can to provide solutions for all groups. Please, therefore, find some details below.
FINDING TRAINING SPACE/A DEDICATED SITE
We are making significant headway with short, medium and long-term solutions.
Short-term solutions
1. First priority: Our first step was to secure training venues for our competition groups to ensure they can continue preparing for their competitions (which begin in Feb and March)
2. Six venues: There is very limited availability of suitable venues in Honiton. We’ve secured six venues with various availability (LED Sports Hall, Youth Club, HCC Dining Hall, HCC Drama Studio, HCC Dance Studio and HCC Gymnasium). However, all of these require mats to be carried between areas and most require relocation on various dates when school functions etc take place.
3. Storage: We secured storage for mats in the Youth Club and HCC’s unused classrooms, which require transporting to and from venues each session.
4. Recreational classes, Gym-Crazy & Turbo Toddlers: Recreational classes can be run only when there is a minimum Level 2 coach supervising (most Level 2 coaches run their own competition groups). When we had our own, large gymnastics centre this was straight forward, but it is hard to currently find enough space to run competition and recreational classes in the same venue. However, getting recreational classes up and running again is very important to us and we are confident that we will have more running again soon. We have managed so far to run the regular Rec 5+ and Rec 8+ sessions on Tuesday evenings and hope to inform you of more rec classes soon.
Medium-Term Solutions
While we are doing the more difficult job of securing a ‘home for life’ for Honiton Gymnastics Club, we require a base in the interim where we can leave out equipment, run operations, and ensure recreational classes start again. In the past few weeks we’ve met with private landlords and EDDC councilors and officers to search for a suitable venue(s). We’ve
- Researched, visited and considered six different potential sites.
- Negotiated with landlords
- Hammered on the doors’ of owners, agents and managing companies to get quicker responses and decisions
- Met with Taylor Wimpey Directors to broach the subject of moving back to our old venue for a fixed period (this was not possible, unfortunately)
On a number of occasions we have been close to finding a solution, but have been held back by issues such as:
- Very constrained parking clauses (just seven car parking spaces for one site!)
- Leaking/mouldy interiors
- Ludicrously high rent for smaller spaces (up to £10,000 per month!)
- A necessity for long-term leases on small venues that would hamper long-term plans
We’re now actively pushing ahead with one, more realistic option, but this is by no means guaranteed yet. All options we have looked at require applications for temporary change-of-use planning permission through EDDC from industrial/commercial use to leisure use, along with agreements from a number of parties. We hope to have positive news about this potential solution soon.
Long-term solutions
Since leaving Honiton Leisure Centre two-and-a-half years ago we’ve proudly become much more of a community-oriented group, catering for many more recreational gymnasts, pre-school children and adult gymnasts. Our ambition is to further develop this side of Honiton Gymnastics Club alongside our recreational gymnastics. We plan to increase the number of gymnastics and performance-related activities that take place in our future centre and reach out to many more groups in the East Devon community.
To do this, we need to ensure that our next big step is very well planned, sustainable, and has the opportunity for the club to continue developing in years to come. Without a dedicated centre that we own (or have a minimum 25-year lease on) we could find ourselves in a potential ‘eviction situation’ again in the future. This is something we intend to avoid at all costs.
All possible long-term solutions are extremely expensive, so require a great deal of time, co-ordination and ‘picking the brains’ of specialists in various fields.
So, alongside looking for medium term solutions, Honiton Gymnastics Club board members have also had numerous regular meetings, phone calls and email conversations with groups including:
- East Devon District Councillors and officers
- Neil Parish MP (supported by Hugo Swire)
- British Gymnastics Facilities Partner, Rob Hardy
- Honiton Town councillors (including Cllr Mike Allen, Deputy Leader Phil Twiss, and heads of various departments)
- Sport England regional managers and national director
- Taylor Wimpey directors
- Active Devon director
- Legal advisors
- Potential supporters/sponsors/local businesses
- Providers of grants and trust funds
We have been speaking to as many relevant people as we can to ensure we have the best chance of getting the right solution!
These meetings continue on a weekly and daily basis, as each step towards a possible dedicated premises takes time, the backing of many stakeholders and a huge amount of research and paperwork.
We know the long-term solution is a long road ahead, but our board is convinced that this is the right way to go in terms of developing a club that truly serves the community as a whole while also providing the very best facility for high-level gymnasts who have the potential to represent their club, Honiton, the south west region and ultimately their country.
NOTE on board members: Honiton Gymnastics Club Board members (Helen Reddy, James Reddy, Pam Burns, Melissa Pendrick and Emma Smith) are also coaches at the club and their posts as board members are voluntary. Each board members has been involved with the club for between 13 and 35 years. All have ‘normal’ daytime jobs so their work on the above is done in their spare time.
NOTE on club’s legal status: Honiton Gymnastics Club is currently awaiting approval from Companies House to become a Community Interest Company (a not-for-profit social enterprise), which will improve the chance of accessing grants. It will also ‘lock’ all of our assets/equipment so that they are legally owned the community and not by individuals.
Keep supporting our efforts
This is a big task and we wish we had a venue in which all of our 500+ gymnasts could train at the moment. We also know that venues such as the youth club are not ideal training venues for competition groups. However, we also know that with our excellent group of coaches to keep our children motivated and hardworking, determined gymnasts, training can still be carried out to the highest of standards (something we always strive to set) and Honiton Gymnastics Club’s performers will perform equally as well—if not better—in 2019.
For those whose children are in recreational classes we ask you to continue to keep your children motivated and not lose their interest in gymnastics, because when we have positive news for you we will immediately let you know and hope to start recreational sessions again as soon as possible. We cannot yet say when this will be but are confident it will be soon.
Our first social event—Battle of the Brains quiz, organized by Joanna Blackmore—was a fun, successful night and our Supporters Association intend to hold more of these type of events in future months. They are a great way to raise much-needed funds for our next steps, help keep up the profile of our plight and keep the spirit of the club strong.
The strength of Honiton Gymnastics Club lies in the strength and resilience of everyone involved – from our gymnasts and coaches to the parents, friends and families that get involved and support us in everything that we do. So, please continue helping the club to stay strong and resilient.
Very best wishes and we hope to have positive news for everyone soon.
Honiton Gymnastics Club Board
(Helen Reddy, James Reddy, Pam Burns, Melissa Pendrick and Emma Smith)
E honitongymclub@gmail.com W w