Our Beginning…
Spectrum Gymnastics Club with its 6 members, and Bury St. Edmunds Gymnastic Club with its 14 members, amalgamated in December 1995 to form Bury Spectrum Gymnastics Club. From humble beginnings in a local school hall, the club has progressed steadily. The club was originally run by a handful of keen volunteers, who had a passion for the sport, and children involved. As the club’s membership grew, coaching team expanded, and the days of volunteers started to fade, it was necessary to progress the club. In 1996, we moved to a fully equipped unit in Western Way and introduced basic pay for trained coaches. With the improved facilities, and the additional training hours, the gymnasts started to bring home county, regional, and national medals. This brought further local interest to the sport, our membership increased, and the we outgrew the facility in Western Way.
In April 2012, we moved to an improved venue in Northern Way, securing funding from Sport England to adapt the industrial unit to ensure it was fit for purpose. At this point the club became a non-for-profit organisation limited by guarantee. The new facility and staffing structure enabled the club to develop, grow, and archive further success.
Activities
The club run a wide number of activities, pre-school gymnastics, parent & toddler play, recreational gymnastics, trampolining, artistic gymnastics, tumble and adults.
We host 16 events a year, these range from inter club competitions and showcase spectaculars, to national invitational competitions that see clubs from across the country travelling to Bury St Edmunds with their members and families to participate in our events and enjoy the local amenities.
In addition, we regularly host county and regional training squad sessions where the most talented gymnasts from Suffolk and the Eastern Region train together to receive expert coaching from specialists.
Aims and Ambitions
Our ambition is to move to a larger facility, a facility for life, where the club can offer all those on the waiting list and everyone in the future with an interest in gymnastics, the opportunity to get involved. We would like to reduce outgoings on facility hire, increase income through membership, and enable us to train and employ more staff. We would like to have a larger viewing gallery so that we can expand our events drawing more visitors to the town. And of course, we would certainly like to offer our squad gymnasts additional training space and hours so that they can achieve greater success and be sporting stars of the future.
