An exciting opportunity exists at British Gymnastics Foundation for new Independent Trustees who can offer guidance, support, expertise and an objective perspective on the key matters of strategy, governance and financial affairs.

In order to expand and compliment the highly skilled existing Board, British Gymnastics Foundation is looking for up to three leaders, with a myriad of experiences across either business, sport or both. We have ambitions to support next generation leaders, so although helpful, previous Board experience is not essential for the role; and we have a good induction process to support all new Board members.

British Gymnastics Foundation is a young charity established in 2014. The Foundation enjoys a good working relationship with British Gymnastics, the National Governing Body for gymnastics in the UK. Through collaborative working, the British Gymnastics Foundation creates opportunities through gymnastics, to bring real improvements to the lives of people and communities most in need; transforming lives through gymnastics.

2022 has seen world event continue to challenge us all, but with hard work and dedication, the past 12 months has seen the British Gymnastics Foundation grow its impact, with a rapid increase in the number of beneficiaries supported within our public benefit programmes. Most notably, the Foundation’s Love to Move programme, which is an age and dementia friendly chair-based gymnastics programme, has delivered more online training courses and activity sessions to benefit the most vulnerable older people in our communities. Love to Move now has over 600 trained deliverers.

The Foundation’s Hardship Grants programme has also awarded £358,000, saving 1,063 individuals from dropping out of the sport they love due to significant financial hardship.

If you have experience at Director or Senior Management level, British Gymnastics Foundation would like to encourage you to apply for this position which, will require an investment of time annually of approximately 4 – 8 days to help British Gymnastics Foundation deliver a Strategic Plan that will build on our successes and further develop the charity; helping us to reach out to more people who are most in need, transforming their lives through gymnastics. To complement our current Trustee skills, we are ideally looking for candidates with experience in any of the following areas: Audit, Risk Management, Financial, Governance and Legal.

British Gymnastics Foundation is committed to equal opportunities and aims to provide a discrimination-free environment for staff, volunteers and everyone involved in our work. We are committed to policy and working practices which are in line with the Equality Act 2010; and we warmly welcome the opportunity of working with a diverse range of people in all that we do. We are very proud to have advanced the inclusion, equality and diversity agendas through the work of our programmes to date; and this work has been recognised as contributing to the achievement of the Advanced Level of the Equality Standard for Sport, for British Gymnastics & the British Gymnastics Foundation.

Our Board meetings take place four times per year in March, June, September and December. If any candidates have accessibility requirements, we are committed to doing what is needed to ensure that they can participate in every aspect of our Board.

To apply for this exciting and challenging opportunity, please send a CV and covering letter to:

Patrick Bonner, Head of British Gymnastics Foundation
E-mail: [email protected]

If you would like to have an exploratory conversation regarding the roles,
please email us and we will be happy to arrange a discussion with you.

Closing date for applications is Sunday 16^th October 2022.
Interview date is 9^th November 2022.

“Ted is brighter and more alert, more interested in what’s going on around him, is socializing better with others and laughs more.”

Ted, who has Alzheimer’s, and his wife Di have been attending Love to Move sessions in Brampton since May 2019.

Love to Move deliverer Jane said “Ted always arrives with a smile and greets us all politely.  Ted was able to pick up Love to Move quickly, he enjoyed the challenge of the more difficult sections like the Bilateral Asymmetrical patterns and fine motor skills.”

Bilaterally asymmetrical movement patterns are a big part of Love to Move sessions and are understood to benefit older people and those with dementia and mild cognitive impairment. They enable the left side and right side of the brain to process information independently; thus improving cognitive function, coordination and the ability to carry out activities of daily living more independently.

“Ted soon became confident enough to shout out topic words for the Alphabet and sing along to some of the music. Ted always appears to be in a happy mood, laughs and smiles and likes to make jokes.”

Support for carers

Taking part in Love to Move has also been an opportunity for Di to have a much-needed break. She can chat to the volunteers or deliverers and sit and enjoy a coffee. This was so important for Di as she often found it stressful getting Ted ready in the mornings, on top of the stresses of arranging their house move to be nearer to Ted’s dementia friendly activities.

Di notices a big change in Ted when he is enjoying his Love to Move class “at home Ted can be quite unmotivated, spends a lot of time sitting in his chair and is not very communicative. (At Love to Move) Ted is brighter and more alert, more interested in what’s going on around him, is socializing better with others and laughs more.”

The pandemic was such a difficult time for all the group members and resulted in many becoming isolated, with groups closed for months on end. Some people were able to take part in online zoom sessions, but it was not possible for everyone. When face to face sessions reopened in September 21, there was a concern that there may have been significant deterioration in some of the group attendees.

Thankfully, it was clear that this was not the case for Ted as he happily re-joined the group, engaging well in the exercises again. Jane told us “In fact, Ted has become so confident with the programme that he often goes at a faster pace than the deliverer! His movements are bigger and sometimes he moves on to the next action before anyone else as he remembers it all. Some of his movements and facial expressions have become really animated which is lovely to watch.”

Ted says he enjoys the social aspect of the group and has made some lovely friends. Di feels grateful that Ted has interests outside the house and appreciates the time to have a break.

A donation to our Foundation means that we can support more people like Ted and Di to access Love to Move and the many benefits it provides.

You can find out more about our Love to Move sessions and how you can access them by clicking here to visit our Love to Move page here

British Gymnastics Foundation’s Love to Move Programme has been awarded £50,000 of National Lottery funding from Sport England’s Together Fund.

Sport England’s work and contribution to tackling Inequalities focuses on reducing the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on activity levels in underrepresented groups, such as people living with dementia. British Gymnastics Foundation’s Love to Move Programme is specially designed to support people living with dementia, increasing their activity levels and improving cognition and memory. Securing this funding will allow the Foundation to support local community organisations to set up new Love to Move sessions with licensed deliverers.

Programme Manager Louise Roberts said: “With this funding we will establish 45 new sustainable sessions by March 2023. This will be a huge asset for communities still overcoming the effects of isolation that COVID-19 had on people living with dementia.”

A real need for Love to Move

The pandemic was such a difficult time for people living with dementia, with research* showing that nearly half of people living with dementia felt a negative impact on their mental health, over 1 in 3 reported having lost confidence in going out and carrying out daily tasks.

Love to Move has been lifechanging for many participants, supporting people to gain back their independence. Research conducted by Age UK showed 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.”

Ted and Di have been attending Love to Move since before the pandemic. Ted has Alzheimer’s and Di told us “at home Ted can be quite unmotivated, spends a lot of time sitting in his chair and is not very communicative. (At Love to Move) Ted is brighter and more alert, more interested in what’s going on around him, is socializing better with others and laughs more.”

The Together Fund

Tim Hollingsworth, Sport England’s Chief Executive, said:“We are proud to be able to provide funding and support to British Gymnastics Foundation in this difficult period. This funding will help support our valuable community infrastructure that is so important in keeping the nation active and will also provide important connections and reconnections for people whose lives have been affected by COVID-19 and for whom remaining active is so important for their physical, mental and social wellbeing.”

“Thanks to the support of the National Lottery and its players, the Together Fund will be both crucial and central to ensuring no-one is left behind when it comes to having the opportunity to be active during this period.”

You can find out more about our Love to Move sessions and how you can access them by clicking here to visit our Love to Move page here

*The impact of COVID-19 on People Affected by Dementia: Alzheimer’s Society Creative Commons — Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International — CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

When Luba’s Ukrainian care home was bombed in March, life changed dramatically for her.

Luba’s daughter Irina has been living in the UK for 20 years, while Luba has been living in a care home in the Kyiv region of Ukraine for the last 5 years. When it was bombed, the director of Luba’s care home helped to get her to the Polish border where Irina was able to rescue her and bring her back to the UK.

Luba has dementia and doesn’t speak English and so Irina had to give up her job to be her mother’s full-time carer. Together they started attending two local dementia friendly groups in early June. At one group in Great Stukeley, Love to Move deliverer Jane Thomas was delivering a Love to Move taster session.

Jane told us “Initially whilst we had music on and were playing board games, Luba burst into a Ukrainian song and we all swayed and moved to the music with her which she seemed to thoroughly enjoy. Luba engaged with the Love to Move programme from the very first time she joined in and so has also been coming along each week to the Brampton Love to Move group.”

Jane and Irina have been working together to engage Luba even more in the sessions by playing Ukrainian songs and looking to include the Russian alphabet. Irina told us that she doesn’t have to translate many instructions to Luba during the session, as she is very happy joining in and copying Jane.

Jane continued “Despite the music not always being familiar, Luba always looks so happy and copies my actions all the way through the session, sometimes laughing out loud. Luba always repeats a few words to us in Russian after the session, Irina has translated to us that she is saying thank you and telling us we are all lovely people.”

Could you help us to deliver Love to Move in Ukrainian?

We are looking for anyone who speaks Ukrainian and would like to train as a deliverer so we can offer an adapted Love to Move programme via zoom for anyone in need.

If you think this is you please email our team at [email protected]

You can find out more about our Love to Move sessions and how they are helping people like Luba living with dementia by clicking here to visit our Love to Move page here

We are excited to announce that Two-time Olympian Kristian Thomas will be running the TCS London Marathon on 2nd October 2022 for us and fundraising for our lifechanging programmes.

As our Foundation Ambassador, Kristian is excited by the challenge, because the money raised will help transform the lives of those most in need through the sport he loves.

Speaking about why he wanted to take part, Kristian said: “The main reason is my previous work with the Foundation – especially the Love to Move programme. I’ve always worked closely with the Foundation so first and foremost it’s to fundraise for them and promote the good work they do.

“For me personally though, I’m always up for a new challenge or a new target. I’m not an endurance athlete but I love a goal to work towards.”

With less than three months to go until the marathon takes place on the 2nd October, we’ll be providing updates on Kristian’s training, to see how his preparations are going ahead of the big day.

Patrick Bonner, Head of the British Gymnastics Foundation, said: “We’re delighted to have Kristian on board to help raise funds for the charity, so that we can transform more people’s lives through the sport.

“Kristian has been a strong advocate of the charity and became one of our Love to Move ambassadors when the programme was launched. We’re so pleased he’s taking on the challenge, and we’ll be right behind him all the way!”

We’d like to take this opportunity to wish Kristian the best of luck in his preparations.

We are excited to announce that we have a place in the TCS London Marathon that will take place on the 2nd October 2022.

If you’d like to run for us and can pledge to fundraise for our work, all you need to do is fill in our application form and send it to us at [email protected] by Monday 27th June for your chance to be considered for our place. 

All the finer details are included in the application form – but don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any questions.

The application form is in word format for ease of editing. If you have any issues downloading the application, please let us know and we can email you a copy as soon as possible [email protected]

Thank you for your interest – your support could help us to change the lives of people most in need through our innovative programmes.

You can learn more about our work here

We’re delighted to announce that Gary Tolometti has joined our British Gymnastics Foundation Board as a Non-Independent Trustee.

Patrick Bonner, Head of British Gymnastics Foundation, said: “I am very excited to work with Gary! It is clear that Gary is passionate about helping others, so with huge plans to deliver even more public benefit in the years to come, Gary’s skills, knowledge and passion for gymnastics will be a great asset, further enabling the benevolence of our Charity to help transform the lives of many more people through gymnastics.”

Gary served in the RAF as a senior officer and left having specialised in leadership and command training. Since then, he has gone on to take up several roles with his experiences coming in programme management, leadership development, operations management, and resource management.

Since 2016, Gary has been the Chair of Trustees at Garioch Gymnastics Club, playing a key role in the development of a new gymnastics facility as well as developing new strategic business goals for the club.

Speaking about his appointment, Gary said: “I am so looking forward to supporting the British Gymnastics Foundation in every way I can.  The Foundation has so many exciting and worthwhile projects to support those members of our community who don’t have the same privileges and opportunities as many of us.  I believe strongly that we can make a real difference to their lives and empower them to reap the rewards of the life benefits that gymnastics can bring to them.”

Our Trustees play a huge role in shaping the work of British Gymnastics Foundation. You can read about our board of trustees and the expertise that they bring to our charity here

Jerry and Rosemary’s Story

Jerry is a retired primary school headteacher living with vascular dementia. Jerry’s daughter Rosemary was introduced to Love to Move by Ann O’Neill, the parish administrator at St Mary’s Church.  Ann thought the Love to Move classes would be great for Jerry and after Rosemary’s initial reservation about Jerry joining a face-to-face session, post pandemic, Rosemary and Jerry decided to give the Love to Move sessions a try. With Jerry able to go to a familiar location after minimal contact with other people, Rosemary saw a great opportunity for Jerry to get our again and interact with others.

Jerry has severe visual impairment so Love to Move deliverer, Nicole, ensured that Jerry was next to her in the class, so he was able to follow the movements more easily.

Positive and significant impact

“This proved to be a great success as it allowed him to copy and stay engaged and now it is his appointed place at every session,” says Rosemary. “There has been a really positive and significant impact on Dad as a result of the sessions and all of the family (seven children, eighteen grandchildren and one great- granddaughter) have heard all about the fun he’s had and his special role as Nicole’s self- appointed sidekick!”

“One of my sisters lives in Australia and hasn’t been able to come home to visit Dad for over two years. I was so happy to be able to share a video clip with her of Dad in action in the Love to Move session and I know that it meant so much to her to see him singing along to the music and kicking his legs high in the Hokey Cokey!”

Rosemary and Jerry attended their first Love to Move session in November 2021. “At first, I found it really difficult to see Dad in the group because as I watched him, I was remembering how he used to be in the past,” said Rosemary.

A real sense of community

“However, as I saw him engage in the classes and watched how he connected with the other participants and with Nicole, I started to see how much he was enjoying himself and how much good it was doing him. I would say that the thing I enjoy the most about Love to Move is that there is a real sense of community which has developed over the sessions, and it has given Dad a lot of joy at the same time as offering all the benefits of the science behind the exercise.”

“Jerry has just had a check-up with his GP, and she told me that he is in great shape physically. I think that a significant part of the credit for that should go to Nicole and to Love to Move”.

Recorded Improvements

Nicole, one of the British Gymnastics Foundation’s Love to Move deliverers added “at the British Gymnastics Foundation, we have been conducting data collection to look at the physical benefits of taking part in Love to Move classes. After three months I recorded an improvement in Jerry’s hand grip, leg strength and walking speed from his initial results. I am pleased as Jerry works hard each session to improve the exercises in particular the bilateral patterns, which are tricky.”

The British Gymnastics Foundation has helped over 600 people to come through the Love to Move training course to deliver the programme to thousands of people living with dementia across the country.

Contact us to find out more

Contact [email protected] to find out more information on our Love to Move training courses or find a class near you.

Gillian took part in our Love to Move for Dementia challenge last July

Love to Move for Dementia is our challenge to walk 10,000 steps every day in July to raise money for the British Gymnastics Foundation. By taking on the challenge, Gillian helped more people to access our lifechanging Love to Move classes – helping people to improve their memory and cognition.

Here is what Gillian had to say about taking on the challenge:

“I took on the challenge as my father had dementia and had recently passed away. His mobility went downhill rapidly during the covid lockdowns and not getting out to his various groups. Love to Move would have been a great activity for him and I feel all dementia sufferers should have a movement class to help keep them active for as long as possible as once mobility goes it’s very difficult.

The challenge was relatively easy to do and fun and I roped in various family members to keep me company on my walks. Sometimes it was hard to get in the steps because of work but always managed.

I got a bit fitter, and I got to enjoy the outdoors a little more instead of curling in front of the TV after work. Give it a go, it’s not difficult to do and Love to Move is a brilliant project to support.

Anyone who has an elderly relative whether with dementia or not will recognise the need to keep them moving and to join in with others in a social environment like Love to Move.”

If you’d like to take on the Love to Move for Dementia challenge this year, visit our Love to Move for Dementia page here or get in touch with us at [email protected]

Nikki’s Story

Mark Gettinby is the owner of Home Instead in Havant who specialise in care at home for the elderly.  Nikki was working for Home Instead when she attended a Love to Move taster session. Being passionate about helping people living with dementia and following the taster session, Mark and Nikki both completed their Love to Move training in July 2020 and were ready to set up their community Love to Move group by September.

Nikki described ‘First timers’ to the session as having closed body language and being suspicious or ‘not sure’, but within 2-3 weeks that completely changed. “One chap comes in a wheelchair and on the 3^rd session he picked up his wife’s arms and danced with her! Another participant couldn’t clap and after 3 weeks was clapping again.”

Within weeks there is a difference!

Feedback from families has been unreservedly positive and carers and loved ones enjoy it as much as the participants. “They get just as much from the session as the people they bring. Different people’s skills and abilities flourish in different sections of the sessions.”It was so successful that they soon had a waiting list.

Nikki is now working as an NHS Dementia Coach, supporting those who have not left the house in a long time to engage in the community Love to Move sessions, so Naomi from Home Instead and Rosanna are now running the sessions.  

Naomi said, “it is a vibrant, busy class. We have found that the attendees have greatly improved their fine motor skills and language/memory recall. The community centre manager always comments: ‘This is miracle work! Some of the people start the class barely able to talk and within weeks there is a difference.’”

“There is one lady in particular who we feel has shown amazing growth during her time with us. When she started, she didn’t say a word and couldn’t do many of the activities and now she is fully engaged, tries really hard and is a regular contributor to the alphabet activity.”

Effective link between the care sector and medical services

Nikki is full of praise for Naomi and Rosanna “having such warmly positive deliverers is essential to the successful running of this class” and she feels that the achievements in the class are in part due to the effective link between the care sector and medical services.  “Both Home Instead and the GP practices are keen to keep people safe and socially connected whilst living at home”.

“As a Dementia Coach having a class to direct patients towards is a fantastic way of encouraging social engagement and purposeful safe physical activity. Having Love to Move strengthens the ‘umbrella of care and safety net of support’ for patients with memory concerns within this area.”

Improving abilities and cognition pathways through Love to Move is a very important element in keeping participants happy and well.

Nikki says “Love to Move is like an awakening of enjoyment – Delivering it is the most incredible high, richly, joyously positive. You really change people’s emotional state – getting smiles back and engagement has been a complete privilege”.

Nikki Shepherd, Love to Move deliverer and NHS Lead Health & Wellbeing Specialist Dementia Coach & Educator, Havant & Waterlooville Primary Care Network.

Could you train to deliver?

If you’d like to train to become a Love to Move deliverer or would like to link up with your local deliverer, please get in touch with us by emailing [email protected]