Louise Fawcett is the Head of Sports Science and Medicine for British Gymnastics, working within the English Institute of Sport. We are delighted to welcome Louise as our newest charity trustee.

We caught up with Louise to find out a little bit more about her, and how she’s hoping to make an impact through the Foundation.

Louise, can you tell us a little about your background and your involvement in gymnastics?
“As a chartered physiotherapist with over 26 years’ experience, with 19 years of working in elite sport, I have been very fortunate to attend five Olympic games as a team physiotherapist. As a gymnastics fan I was extremely honoured to assist the GBR gymnastics team at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games through my role at the BOA in the Team GB HQ medical team.

“Then in 2009, I took up my current appointment as Head of Sports Science and Sports Medicine for British Gymnastics, working within the English Institute of Sport.”

What is the greatest gymnastics moment you have experienced in your time working in the sport?
“There are so many. Every time I see a gymnast come back from adversity I feel it is a great moment when they step back up onto a podium and perform a clean routine.”

For you personally, why did you choose to be a trustee for the British Gymnastics Foundation?
“I am very passionate about supporting gymnastics at every level. My career has been focussed on supporting the development of elite gymnasts from a science and medicine perspective, but I can see how gymnastics can benefit so many people in different facets of life on multiple levels.”

What are you hoping to bring to the role?
“I am hoping to bring experience from a medicine and science background, but I also have knowledge and insight into strategy, governance, financial affairs and research and innovation.”

Is there a specific area of work that the Foundation do that you have an interest in?
“As a physiotherapist I absolutely love the “Love to Move” programme. I am fascinated by the fact that each exercise has been specifically developed to have an impact on the function and co-ordination of the participants. Using gymnastics foundation skills and then adding in the cognitive stimulation with the fun social interaction is a great way to engage in exercise to enhance the mind and body in many ways.”

Finally, how pleased are you to be involved in a charity making a difference through gymnastics?
“I am extremely pleased and proud to be part of the British Gymnastics Foundation charity. I am at the beginning of a fulfilling journey with inspirational people all around me.”

A gymnast from Berkshire has been surprised with one of our Inspirational Experiences where she got to meet none other than Olympic, World and European gymnast and Strictly star, Claudia Fragapane.

Cressida’s mum first contacted the British Gymnastics Foundation having applied for a Hardship Grant (read more about our Hardship Grants). The family had gone through an incredibly tough time, with Cressida losing her father and her Mum having to care for her alone.

A huge gymnastics fan and regular attendee to her gymnastics club, Cressida didn’t want to stop going to her classes, but times became hard.

Cressida’s mum, Jo says: “Myself and my children were now totally on our own and had to adapt. Activities stopped, treats disappeared, food was budgeted and clothes had to last longer. Children need to be children though; they need a childhood full of fun, laughter and learning. I was determined to find a way to keep my children involved with the sports they loved and for my daughter, this was gymnastics.”

We were delighted that Jo contacted us and were happier still to be able to support the family by helping Cressida continue her gymnastics classes.

Jo says: “Cressida was incredibly lucky to receive funding from British Gymnastics Foundation who understood our family circumstances had changed overnight and supported my daughter to help her continue her gymnastic training in a safe environment under the guidance of professional coaches. For this we are and always will be so grateful.”

Due to the very nature of the circumstances the family had been put in, we were desperate to do more, and asked for a special favour from one of Cressida’s favourite gymnasts – Claudia.

Claudia was more than happy to help, and we arranged for Cressida to have a once in a lifetime trip to Bristol Hawks to see Claudia train and meet her in person.

Following the experience, Cressida sent us an amazing email, which we loved so much, we wanted to share it in full. We’re delighted Cressida had such a great time.

Cressida said: “I would like to say a massive thank you for allowing me to meet Claudia. It was an exceptionally amazing experience for me and I greatly appreciated the opportunity. Being chosen made me feel very special, I am crazy about gymnastics but can only attend one training session a week – I could not believe the British Gymnastics Foundation had chosen ME!

“Although I was excited about watching Claudia train and nervous about meeting her, she was so welcoming, understanding & kind – giving me a big hug when we were introduced. I watched Claudia finish a training session on the bars, then we went upstairs where Claudia used the ballet bar with four more elite gymnasts as they practiced movement skills to music. Some of the routines had been choreographed by Claudia, they were all so graceful and fluid in their movement but Claudia was clearly the BEST!

“Then Claudia invited us to run through a warm up movement routine with her!!! It was like a dance class with gymnastic elements added in with lots of Strictly influences. As I am a dancer this was a perfect warm up for me. The session taught me that it is the tiniest detail that makes a big difference; the lines, the flow, from your toes to your fingers.

“Claudia gave me some great advice about improving my fast track skills and we played a points game for landing correctly which was really fun. Claudia really helped me with confidence on the Beam – Claudia’s advice has given me the confidence to ask to spend more time on the beam each week so I can practice.

“I cannot thank you, British Gymnastics Foundation, Bristol Hawks and of course Claudia enough for such a fabulous afternoon – I will never forget my afternoon with a world medallist and the gymnast who has inspired me for years. I am extremely thankful for everything you all have done to organise this incredible session for me.”

Clubs across the UK have taken part in our birthday celebrations throughout July, all whilst raising money so that we can continue to change lives through gymnastics.

Severn Gymnastics and Trampoline Club are one of the clubs that took part as they hosted a fun, fancy dress style gymnastics day, raising over £200 in the process.

Speaking about why the club wanted to get involved, Gaynor, Club Director, said: “None of us know when we will need a helping hand in life and this is an amazing way to get families together and to create lasting memories.

“Our club is all about helping the community and giving every child the chance to experience gymnastics and trampolining, so knowing that there is a charity that could help further a child’s ambition is great.

“We held a family circuits and fun evening. There was freestyle time in the gym for kids to show their parents what they can do and there was also chance for parents to have a go. We had an ice cream van, face painting and hot dogs for sale. We had many tired parents and happy gymnasts at the end.” 

Wyre Forest Gymnastics Club were another that got involved. Hollie Jones, Fundraising Coordinator and Coach said: “Our gymnasts have loved dressing up to support the Foundation this week. We’ve been amazed at the effort and originality that has been put into the costumes, and it’s been great to know that the gymnasts (and coaches!) have had fun whilst supporting a worthy cause.”

Basingstoke Gymnastics Club had plenty of fun celebrating our birthday, raising £115 in the process. Development Manager Amy Woods said: “This was a fantastic idea and all the classes got involved from our GFA classes, freestyle, development, elite performance gymnasts and our staff.”

We would like to say a massive thank you to every club that helped us celebrate during July.

Although our birthday month is over, if your club would like to organise a late birthday gymnastics day, you can still download a fundraising pack.

Young disabled gymnasts from all over Scotland, were invited to take part in a two-day disability gymnastics training camp taking place in Aberdeen over the weekend, 21st-22nd July.

The gymnasts were very excited to get underway with training on the first morning of the camp; but shortly after the start of their training session, the gymnasts got the shock of their lives, as Olympic medallist and gymnastics hero, Dan Purvis made a surprise visit to spend the day with the gymnasts and coaches. As an ambassador for the British Gymnastics Foundation, Dan’s visit was part of the charity’s Inspirational Experiences Programme, which aims to transform lives through gymnastics.

From the moment the gymnasts saw Dan coming into the training hall, it was clear to see the levels of excitement were high! The star-struck gymnasts soon got stuck in and asked plenty of questions to Dan, before they enjoyed a once in a life-time coaching masterclass from their hero.

Dan worked well with the gymnasts and it was so clear to see how much both the gymnasts and Dan enjoyed working with each other. During the day, Dan shared his gymnastics experiences and top tips with the gymnasts, he led some parts of the sessions and coached all the gymnasts; he even performed some gymnastics which made everyone’s jaws drop!

The 2018 training camp organised by Lorna Presly, was the second time this great event has taken place; and it is run as a non-profit event, which relies on all coaches volunteering. The short-term aim of the camp is to help gymnasts increase their potential as they experience multi-discipline gymnastics and raise their game amongst their fellow gymnasts.

In the long-term, the camp aims to initiate and foster collaboration amongst Scottish clubs. This collaboration plays a very important part in establishing communication between coaches with experiences in the different disciplines of Disability Gymnastics and who share a common interest and vision.

All coaches volunteer over the two-day camp, and this year they came from Banchory Gymnastics, Beacon Gymnastics, Beacon Rhythmic Gymnastics, City of Aberdeen Gymnastics, City of Glasgow Gymnastics, Garioch Gymnastics and Irvine Bay Gymnastics. Every coach is a very important part of the human-power behind the future of Disability Gymnastics in Scotland; and by helping to promote Disability Gymnastics and raising awareness, this camp could play a part in increasing nationwide participation by disabled people in gymnastics.

Dan Purvis said: “I had fantastic day with the gymnasts. It was great to see them having fun, carefree & happy, whilst demonstrating a high skill level. Gymnastics is a sport which is inclusive and can be enjoyed by everyone. It was great for me to be invited to share their day. The volunteers put in so much hard work to make the camp the best possible experience for the gymnasts; and that was great to see and be part of too!

“When I was a kid I had quite a few gymnastics role models like Alexei Nemov and Kanukai Jackson; and I remember watching the Olympics and Manchester Commonwealth Games and being so inspired to dream big. Being at the disability gymnastics training camp today, I got such a warm welcome and so many of the gymnasts told me that I inspire them. That really is a great feeling and it fills me with pride to be doing my bit to inspire others in our sport.”

A young gymnast at the camp told us: “Dan is amazing! I’ve seen him on television before, but I never thought I would ever meet him in real life. He did some really great coaching with me today and it made me so excited to show him my gymnastics skills; I even taught him a dance move! He stayed all day, talked to all of us and gave us good advice for our training. I am never going to forget today- it was brilliant!”

Patrick Bonner, Head of British Gymnastics Foundation said: “It’s not every day that you get to see your sporting hero and spend the day with them; so to see all these gymnasts enjoying an unforgettable and inspirational day with Dan, was very special indeed. The whole team at the British Gymnastics Foundation is passionate about our goal of transforming lives through gymnastics, so we were very excited to work with our ambassador Dan Purvis, and to see first-hand all the excitement and joy that an inspirational experience such as this can bring!”

Lorna Presly, organiser of the training camp, said: “The Disability Gymnastics Camp in Aberdeen gives all the gymnasts, from beginner to competitive levels, from all over, a chance to try all the gymnastics disciplines over one weekend.

“It was great to see everyone joining in together again in TeamGym, Acrobatics, Rhythmic and Artistic gymnastics, watched by the expertise of all the voluntary coaches who, this year, come from as far as Ayrshire and Glasgow, and a lot of local coaches too, who give up their time for the love of our sport.

“Thank you to the British Gymnastics Foundation, who organised for Daniel Purvis to come along as a special guest. Seeing the excitement on the faces of all the gymnasts when they saw Daniel, was so special. I met Daniel at the British championships over the past few years and have seen the way he interacts with the disability gymnasts: they obviously look up to him, and he in turn shows them the respect they deserve.

“A big thank you to Grampian Disability Sport for their support, to City of Aberdeen Gymnastics for the hire of the hall as well as to Scotmid Co-operative for sponsoring the camp this year and supplying us with t-shirts, and merchandise.”

Everyone involved in the organisation of the Camp has a huge desire to see this initiative grow in the years to come; so with the hope of continued support and funding from some great organisations and the continued support of community volunteers, we hope that this event is in the calendar to stay; bringing huge benefit to disability gymnasts all over Scotland.

To celebrate Father’s Day, we spoke to British Gymnastics Foundation trustee and father of Britain’s greatest ever women’s artistic gymnast, Jerry Tweddle.

Beth Tweddle MBE is a 17-time major championship medal winner and earlier this year we were delighted to announce Beth as an ambassador for our Hardship Grants Programme. Learn more about the programme.

Father’s Day seemed like the perfect time to catch up with Jerry for an exclusive insight about Beth when she was growing up as well as both of their involvement in our charity.

Jerry, tell us about Beth as a young girl. Did you always know she was destined to achieve big things?
“She was very energetic and always upside down as a child, she just went to try gymnastics. She started walking at 10 months old, but she was so small, people used to say, ‘that child isn’t old enough to be walking!’. She tried all sorts of different activities like ballet and went to the gym club with some friends in the village when she was seven.

“It was at her first competition that the light switch turned on. She just loved competing. We never realised that she would become as successful as she has been. She was just always very enthusiastic about it.

“It was one step at a time, like getting into the North-West squad; we never twigged that she was going to be world champion. Beth won the odd apparatus title but never won the British junior championship. She only really came to the top when she was a senior, so we never expected it.

“Beth always says it’s all about hard work. She failed a few times, had many setbacks along the way but if she had a bad competition she put it behind her immediately. That’s the great thing about Beth, she never dwells on things. She’s always looking forward. She never missed a session. She was always wanted to be first there and last out.”

How much time and dedication went into Beth’s gymnastics?
“Beth was at school in Chester, so every night she would either get a lift with another gymnast to Liverpool or taxi ride from Chester to Liverpool, then we would pick her up in the evening.

“It sounds a pain, but it meant that we’d got our daughter in the car to talk to coming and going. You get a lot of one-to-one time with your child doing that. Everyone says it’s a sacrifice but we never saw it that way. It was fun and as a parent, it’s just what you do.

“The only problems came when it clashed with what our son was doing. Weekends where both children were competing, my wife and I would have to separate and each take one.

“We do love sport – neither of us (my wife and I) are competitive but everything was driven by sport – that’s how the kids were brought up.”

How did you feel when Beth went to the Olympics and won medals at major championships?
“Winning the Olympic medal, I think the greatest feeling was relief. She’d finished 4th in Beijing and decided to give it one more go. She committed 4 more years of her life. She had also won world titles in the build up to the Games so things were going well, but if she’d come 4th again, it would have felt like ‘why did I dedicate four years for that?’.

“We can’t go to a restaurant with Beth now without people coming to ask for autographs. We’re as proud of her for what she does now and how she does it, and what she’s putting back into gymnastics as we are with the medals.

“Gymnastics is her life and everything she does is driven around that sport – helping youngsters to have a go. She is more interested in getting kids to be involved than in the next Olympics.”

Beth is now an ambassador for our Hardship Grants Programme. Why do you think it’s such a good fit for Beth?
“There is a match with Beth’s interests as she wants everyone to try out gymnastics. Even if they go onto other sports, she sees the value in the discipline and the relationship with their coach. If kids can’t do it because of a financial situation, it’s very frustrating.

“The thought of a child not being able to do gymnastics because their parents are going through hard times is what drives her and Beth won’t do something half-heartedly.”

For you personally, why did you choose to be a trustee for the British Gymnastics Foundation?
“It’s because Ann and I have had 25 years of getting an awful lot out of gymnastics. It’s been a joy to us. We’ve hardly missed an event and still go to the Worlds and Europeans. We’ve got so much out of it, so I feel this is a small way to give something back to a very worthwhile charity.”

Finally, how pleased are you to be involved in a charity making a difference through gymnastics?
“I’m very pleased, especially because we started from nothing, just an enthusiastic bunch! But we have achieved a lot in terms of putting the charity on the map, helping a lot of kids already, and the dementia programme is making such strides. It is making a difference and we can see that.

“I can see something happening in quite a big way. We have some challenges but we know we can make a difference.”

Find out more about our charity.

This time last year, during Dementia Awareness Week, we launched our very first crowdfunding campaign to raise money for our Love to Move programme.

Thanks to the generosity of so many people, and with British Gymnastics agreeing to match any donation made, we managed to raise £14,296 which is allowing us to continue growing the programme.

During that week we released research conducted by Age UK about Love to Move, confirming that “the programme has a demonstrable benefit in the physical, emotional and cognitive aspects of older people and those older people having mild to advanced forms of dementia appear to benefit the most.” Download the research.

We also released the very first Love to Move booklet as a free download, meaning that the programme was made available for everyone. The booklet included some of the asymmetric movements that make Love to Move unique and has since been downloaded a staggering 173,000 times! Download your copy and try the exercises at home.

Also during that week, Patrick Bonner, Head of British Gymnastics Foundation, was invited on to the famous BBC Breakfast sofa to show some of the movements that are behind the programme’s success. Relive our visit to the BBC Breakfast sofa.

Since that week, our programme continues to go from strength-to-strength. In October last year we were delighted to be awarded National Lottery funding from Sport England as part of their Active Aging Fund. The funding will assist the development and expansion of our Love to Move programme over the next four years.

Love to Move update
In January this year, we were delighted to appoint Steve Peters as our Love to Move Manager. Steve has been working hard to identify partners for the programme, including National Health Service Clinical Commissioning Groups, Local Authority Public Health and Adult Social Care, care providers and community organisations around the UK.

In the last month work has begun to develop the programme in the other home nations, with Scotland and Northern Ireland already involved and initial conversations having begun with Wales.

We are also working with a group of British Gymnastics tutors to develop an education resource, so that we can train and then deliver Love to Move to more people. The course will be a formal qualification and will include a mixture of online learning, two days of training with a tutor, separated by eight weeks of practical delivery.

The first pilot of the course will be in September and the intention is for the course to be fully developed for launch in January 2019.

Our brilliant coach Kim Hall is now the Love to Move Lead Programme Deliverer and we will be advertising for three Love to Move local programme deliverer posts in Bedfordshire & Cambridge, Merseyside & Cheshire and Greater London this week.

Exactly a year on Dementia Awareness Week has come back around, and we have a challenge that you can get involved in on social media. We’re encouraging people to film themselves trying the Love to Move exercise below. Share your attempt, challenge your friends and text MOVE40 £3 to 70070 to donate £3.

Want to hear more about Love to Move? Sign up for regular updates.

Today marks the start of Dementia Awareness Week (21st-27th May), and we want you to take part in our Love to Move challenge.

Love to Move is an age and dementia friendly cognitive enhancement seated gymnastics programme, which to date has had remarkable results.

You can read more about Love to Move and download a free Love to Move booklet which includes some of the core exercises, by visiting our Love to Move page.

For Dementia Awareness Week we want you to try one of the movements that make our programme so unique.

Here’s the challenge, set out by Olympic medallist Kristian Thomas. Head to Facebook or Twitter to get involved and post your attempts. Make sure you use #LovetoMovechallenge.

We were delighted to send a family to the 2018 Gymnastics British Championships, all because of our Inspirational Experiences Programme.

Our programme funding aims to deliver unforgettable and inspirational experiences for individuals and British Gymnastics clubs experiencing crisis or extreme financial hardship.

On this occasion it was a friend of the family that got in touch with us to let us know of the difficult time they’d had. Matthew’s wife passed away in October last year, and he was desperate to give his three children something to look forward to.

Matthew said: “It helped them to have the event on the calendar – and fortuitously it also fell on Mother’s Day weekend which meant there was a distraction for them to lessen the pain of the day.

“My daughters, aged 16, 14 and 12, participate at a recreational level in gymnastics (and the elder two also coach) and have never been to see a top-level competition. They were all delighted with the day and got selfies with Max Whitlock at the end!

“The experience helped provide a valuable weekend of ‘family time’ for us and created lasting happy memories. Even better that the weekend was on Mother’s Day weekend and we were away from home on what was the first such day since their Mother’s death. Thank you all.”

Over the past three years our Inspirational Experience Programme has seen individuals like Libby, who lost her mum after her battle with Leukemia, being given the life-changing opportunity to do gymnastics for the first time. We were also delighted to give Kendal Gym Club a time to remember after their club was devastated by the flooding that hit Cumbria in 2015.

Patrick Bonner, Head of British Gymnastics Foundation said: “We were so sorry to hear about the traumatic time that Matthew and his three daughters are going through. It’s a privilege to be able to help families like theirs through our Inspirational Experiences Programme and to witness the positive differences that gymnastics can bring. For clubs in crisis and people struggling with mental health issues or gymnasts dealing with injury, our inspirational experiences can do just that; inspire and motivate!

“We wouldn’t be able to create these experiences and create happy memories for those most in need without the support and donations from our community. So, a huge thank you from me, to all of you who support us to make this possible.”

If you think that British Gymnastics Foundation Support could benefit you or your club, please contact us and tell us your story – [email protected].

Last year we were delighted to announce that we had received nearly £500,000 of National Lottery funding from Sport England to help expand our Love to Move programme.

Love to Move is an age and dementia friendly cognitive enhancement seated gymnastics programme which is transforming the lives of those taking part, and the funding will assist a four-year project to develop and expand it.

Age UK’s research found the programme to have “a demonstrable benefit in the physical, emotional and cognitive aspects of older people and those older people having mild to advanced forms of dementia appear to benefit the most.”

Key to the project is Steve Peters (pictured above with Love to Move participant Leslie), our new Love to Move Manager. Having been to several sessions in 2018, Steve has got to know the programme and has seen first-hand the benefits that come with it. We spoke to Steve about his initial thoughts of Love to Move.

How pleased are you to be working on the Love to Move programme?
“I am delighted to be working as the Love to Move Manager. In the late 80s my Grandmother lived with vascular dementia in her later years and spent most of her time in her care home bedroom. Love to Move gives me the opportunity to make a difference to the lives of people like my Gran.”

What were your thoughts when you witnessed a Love to Move class for the first time? Or when you read about it and its impacts?
“I had read all about it, but seeing Love to Move in action was just amazing to see. I remember particularly a gentleman I sat with. We chatted about how he’d been in the RAF and we laughed as we tried to do the exercises together!”

What do think is the most exciting thing about Love to Move?
“Most exciting thing about Love to Move? The potential to change people’s lives. As I have been meeting people and making partnerships, I’ve realised that everybody has a dementia story. Whether a parent, grandparent or friend. The opportunity to help them is what excites me most.”

Did you talk to relatives or people who had witnessed the change Love to Move creates?
“I spoke to a young girl with her Grandmother. She had lost her Grandad recently. Her Grandad had been living with dementia and for three years she said she had a Grandad shaped person in the room, but it was not her Grandad. In the last three months of his life, he was taking part in Love to Move, and the young girl told me in those three months, she had her Grandad back. To hear that was a very emotional moment.”

What are your hopes for Love to Move?
“My hopes for Love to Move are for it to become part of the British psyche – that it’s something for everyone in everyday life. That people are protecting themselves and building cognitive reserves, as well as helping those already living with dementia.”

If you’re interested in training to deliver Love to move email [email protected].

We are delighted to announce that we have received £499,991 of National Lottery funding from Sport England to help reduce the number of inactive older adults.

Sport England has put tackling inactivity at the heart of its strategy Towards An Active Nation, and launched the Active Ageing fund to tackle inactivity in the over 55s.

The National Lottery funding will assist a four-year project to develop and expand our Love to Move programme – a chair-based gymnastics exercise programme – to get older people moving more.

The programme has proven to be particularly beneficial for people living with dementia, with research showing that many participants have regained functions which were thought to be lost.

Mike Diaper, Executive Director at Sport England said: “Being active is one of the most important things people can do to maintain health and wellbeing as they age. We’re delighted to be supporting the British Gymnastics Foundation with National Lottery funding to help get older adults leading happier and heathier lives. We’ll be sharing learnings so successful approaches can be scaled-up or replicated across the country.”

Patrick Bonner, Head of British Gymnastics Foundation said: “We are absolutely delighted to receive this funding award from Sport England and would like to say a huge thank you to all the National Lottery players out there who are making the delivery of the Love to Move Programme possible. I know that our programme changes people’s lives for the better and helps people to function better and become more active; particularly people living with dementia.

“This funding award from Sport England will enable our charity to expand and develop the programme further, helping many thousands of older people to benefit from taking part. Over 230 organisations and individuals are interested in delivering the Love to Move programme in association with our Foundation. With this swell of interest in Love to Move, I believe that we now have the potential to improve the lives of older people; particularly those experiencing cognitive, physical and social difficulties.”

The funding will also be used to establish a group of core programme coaches and tutors who can work closely with the British Gymnastics Foundation. They will help to deliver the programme, train deliverers and contribute to the ongoing research and development of the programme. We will also complete comprehensive research alongside the delivery of the four-year project, which will aim to evaluate the programme delivery and outcomes.

Find out more about Love to Move or find out how you can volunteer.