Are you a keen runner?

We are looking for runners to join our team and take part in the world’s largest half marathon on behalf of the British Gymnastics Foundation. Take to the streets and celebrate the 40^th anniversary of this iconic race.

This year, the race will take place on Sunday 13^th September starting in the centre of Newcastle and finishing along the beautiful coast of South Shields.

The main ballot has now closed, but we are offering the opportunity for four runners to enter the race. The registration fee will be £55 and we ask that you raise £250 for the Foundation.

You’ll get loads of fundraising tips and advice to help you reach your target and we can also offer plenty of training advice to make sure that you are ready for the big day! Running the Great North Run for us not only helps to raise funds, but also helps to raise awareness of our life-changing programmes. This means that more people living with dementia could gain access to our ground-breaking Love to Move class, or a young gymnast in crisis could be supported through our Hardship Grants to stay in the sport they love.

To register your interest and join our team, please email [email protected]

The British Gymnastics Foundation have been donated some fantastic gymnastics equipment by the BBC that was used during the TV show Tumble in 2014. Some items were never used and are in perfect condition, so there are some real bargains up for grabs for any gym clubs or schools looking to update their gym.

All items would need to be collected from Lilleshall National Sports Centre, Newport, Telford.

All the proceeds from the auction will go to the British Gymnastics Foundation’s programmes, transforming lives through gymnastics.

You will be able to bid on the equipment on our eBay page here from Thursday 6^th February at 7pm until Sunday 16^th February 7pm.

The equipment available for auction includes:

• Heavy duty team gym trampet
• Vault run-up
• Deluxe chalk bowl stand
• Turbo springboard
• Trampoline beds (springs not included)
• 10m air track
• Soft 20cm wide training beam
• HiKOKI blower to inflate the air tracks

If you have any questions regarding the equipment or the auction, please email [email protected] and we will try to answer any queries as soon as possible.

Further information

In just 100 days’ time, Jeff Kincaid will be taking one of the hardest challenges of his life, running the Virgin Money London Marathon.

Jeff, who turns 53 just a day after the 26.2 mile race, is a former police officer who now works as a coach at the Academy of Gymnastics, a registered British Gymnastics club in North Somerset. A keen runner, Jeff has applied to run the marathon five times before, but he has never been successful in his application.

Now he is running on the behalf of our Foundation and he is ready to give it his all.

“I don’t underestimate the size of the challenge.” Said Jeff. “Between now and then there’s going to be some dark days, there’s going to be some hard days but that is ultimately part of the enjoyment. Once you complete the feat, which I hope to do, the sense of achievement will be made all the grander by knowing that the dark days, the wet and the cold, have led towards that moment.”

Four years ago, Jeff did his first and only marathon back in his hometown, Carluke, South Lanarkshire, after toying with the idea for a number of years. He ran alongside Ben Smith, the main who ran 401 marathons in 401 days.

“It just so happened that he was doing one in Scotland starting and finishing in my hometown over the Easter weekend and it was also my daughter’s birthday. If there is such a thing as fate, then that is surely it.

“That was singularly the most painful but exhilarating thing that I have ever done. I am glad I did the event four years ago as I thought I had trained but I clearly hadn’t trained well enough as it really hurt, and I don’t want to go through that again. I am a bit more educated on what to do this time and what to expect.”

There are a number of reasons why Jeff is running the marathon, many of which link to the ethos and the aims of our Foundation.

“To run on behalf of the Foundation was obvious for me. I have always been connected to gymnastics through my wife. I have lived gymnastics almost through osmosis for the last 25 years. When I retired the natural step then was to move into the gymnastics world and I got involved in coaching. The sport, more than any I know, is a foundation for life. If I can try and give something back through the sport to people who perhaps aren’t as entitled as others, then this is a great vehicle to do so.

“I am aware of all the great work that the Foundation do, and I am focusing on the Love to Move programme. 18 months ago, my mother was diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer’s. We are living under the dementia umbrella. My mother at the minute is fine but she knows that she has Alzheimer’s and we all know that there is no recovery and it is going to get worse.

“Personally, for me, 26^th April is very significant. It’s the day before my birthday and I’ll be turning 53. It is also a big year for me as I lost my dad 26 years ago when he was 52. In my mind I am always aware that I am the same age as my dad when he died which is quite scary. There is a real poignancy that this is the last day of my 52^nd year on Earth.”

With the race on the horizon, training is now well underway and many of Jeff’s friends and family are confident he’ll conquer the distance.

“All I have had is nothing but support. I have had people saying I am mad and that it is a crazy distance, which it is, but all of the club and all of the parents are behind me.

“The network of gymnastics is a tight community and people understand what is happening. I am excited to experience finishing and I can’t wait for that moment.”

We are very thankful to have Jeff as our representative at this year’s London Marathon, but we need your kind donations to support Jeff and help our Foundation.

By donating and supporting Jeff you will be helping us to transform lives across the UK through the power of gymnastics. Your donation will go towards our some of our programmes which include: our Love to Move initiative, helping those with dementia with our seated gymnastics sessions; our Hardship Grants Programme, supporting families experiencing financial difficulties; our Schools Project, helping students realise their potential in the sport; our Community Project, working with organisations to make positive impacts in their community and our Disability Project, helping disabled people access the sport.

To make a donation, visit Jeff’s Giving Page – https://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/JeffKincaid1

Our Marathon place has now been filled. Thank you for all your interest.

If you would like to register your interest for any other running events including Great North Run, please email [email protected]

The British Gymnastics Foundation is excited to announce that we have a place in the Virgin London Marathon. The Virgin Money London Marathon will take place on the 26th April 2020.

Our Hardship Grant Programme application process is moving from paper form to an online application form.

From Monday 1st July 2019, when the next window opens for our Hardship Grants, all applications will need to be submitted electronically via our online form.

We will no longer be able to accept paper applications and any that we do receive will be sent back with instructions on how to submit them online.

This programme provides financial assistance to British Gymnastics members, helping them to continue participating in gymnastics.

The deadline for the next window of applications is Tuesday 20th August.

For more information about the programme please email [email protected].

A couple from Huntingdon are experiencing the benefits of the Love to Move programme after attending local community sessions.

Derek and Margaret have been using the Love to Move programme for the past year.

Derek had suffered from a stroke and Margaret developed dementia. Their son and daughter have been taking them to and from the sessions which is open to a large group from the community.

Derek has recovered well from the stroke and now cares for Margaret. He has formed great friendships with other participants from the class and has found the experience very rewarding as he has been able to open up to other carers in the group and share experiences with them. The classes have also helped increase Derek’s confidence as he was previously someone who found it hard to join in, but now, he is fully engaged in the class.

Margaret is also growing in confidence and week after week, she is gaining more enjoyment from the classes. She feels empowered from the experience and she particularly enjoy singing in the sessions and talking about memories.

Margaret says; “I do it for myself and my body and I like the people.”

Both their son and daughter feel their parents have benefitted massively from the Love to Move classes as they are more engaged and interested in life around them.

As a result of their participation, Derek and Margaret have formed close bonds with other members of the group. This positive engagement is one of the big benefits from the programme as it helps to reduce loneliness.

To find out more about the Love to Move programme, click here.

This week is Dementia Action Week and we are pleased to announce some exciting updates for Love to Move, our dementia friendly cognitive enhancement seated gymnastics programme.

The aim of our Love to Move programme is to positively affect the lives of older people, including people living with dementia, together with the lives of their carers and loved ones.

The impact of the Love to Move pilot programme has been evaluated by Age UK and they found the programme had a ‘demonstrable benefit in the physical, emotional and cognitive aspects of older people. Older people having mild to advanced forms of dementia appear to benefit the most.’*

As a result of this insight, further research into the programme is to be commissioned over the next two years to gain more understanding of the impact it is having on the participants and their carers as the sessions evolve across the country.

We are also delighted to announce that Louise Roberts has been appointed as our new Head of Programmes, bringing over 22 years’ experience working in sport development including 20 years at British Gymnastics in roles such as Head of Development, Strategy and Insight, and Governance and Standards.

Louise says; “I have been overwhelmed since I started in this role by the sessions I have seen and the stories I have heard about the incredible impact the Love to Move programme is having on people living with dementia and their quality of life. I feel a great sense of responsibility to make sure that this little piece of magic reaches as many people as possible across the UK.”

Over the last six months, Love to Move has been rolled out across the UK and is now being delivered in over 20 care homes and community settings. This is expected to rise to over 70 during the next couple of months.

We have recently been running pilot courses for Love to Move deliverers and so far, we have run four courses to over 50 learners. Three further courses will run during the summer of 2019 with a view to launching the finished course in the Autumn.

If you are interested in supporting the delivery of the Love to Move programme, please email [email protected].

*Vinal Karania, Research manager (Evaluation and Impact), Age UK

Princess Anne has taken part in an introductory session of our Love to Move programme at UK Coaching’s Applied Coaching Research Conference in Derby.

Held at Derby County Football Club, this year’s conference was based on the theme, ‘Shape the Future of Coaching’, and engaged with over 150 coaching practitioners from a number of sports.

The day consisted of a range of talks and sessions from experienced coaching practitioners who spoke about their coaching research and practice, enabling attendees to learn, share and collaborate on ideas.

Patrick Bonner, Head of the British Gymnastics Foundation, was one of the speakers on the day and delivered a session on the Love to Move programme, our seated gymnastics programme which is transforming the lives of people living with dementia. He was later joined by HRH the Princess Royal who sat in and took part in the activities part of the session.

“HRH The Princess Royal participated in many of the exercises as part of the session and embraced the fun side of Love to Move,” said Patrick. “It was a great privilege and pleasure to have her engage in our session and we had a very interesting discussion about the programme, its application in benefitting the public; and the work we’re doing, more of which we are looking forward to actioning in the coming months.”

The Love to Move programme returns this year and is currently running and testing pilot education courses with selected organisations before a public launch later this year.

A recent pilot course took place in Cookstown with Sport Northern Ireland, the leading public body for the development of sport in Northern Ireland, who are helping to fund the delivery of the programme. Representatives from Disability Sport Northern Ireland and a number of Northern Ireland councils and other community organisations came together to learn about the delivery of the programme through a series of practical and theory sessions on the two-day pilot course.

Patrick added: “Working with Sport Northern Ireland is helping us increase the reach of the programme by developing more learners for the programme. We hope with this expanded network of learners we can make a real impact to the lives of older people across areas of Northern Ireland.”

Find out more information about Love to Move and download our free exercise booklet.

If you are interested in supporting the delivery of the Love to Move programme, please email [email protected].

It has been another brilliant year for the British Gymnastics Foundation. Thanks to the help of so many people, we’ve been able to continue changing lives through gymnastics; the best sport in the world.

We would like to everyone thank that has played a part, however big or small. Here is our year in review.

Our Hardship Grants prove to be a massive help to those who already do gymnastics, allowing them to continue to take part in the sport they love when times are particularly hard. Since the beginning of this programme, we’ve awarded £68,000 in funds, benefitting 189 British Gymnastics members, allowing them to stay in the sport. We also found that 98% of the recipients of the grants were found to still be in gymnastics 12 months later. 59% told us that it was likely that without the grant, they would’ve dropped out of gymnastics. This makes us incredibly proud to have made such a difference.

It has also been another successful year for fundraising. In the last 18 months we have raised almost £14,000 from people completing personal fundraising challenges. These range from Patrick, the head of our charity, taking on an ultra-marathon, Steve cycling the Liverpool Night Rider and Kim running two half marathons to name just a few.

Throughout July, we celebrated our birthday, with British Gymnastics clubs taking part in fundraising activities during the month. This helped to raise £600, but most importantly allowed us to connect with gymnastics clubs across the country, helping to raise awareness of what we do. Thank you to all of the clubs that got involved.

Providing families with brief respite having gone through very difficult times, our Inspirational Experiences programme has done amazing things in 2018. We were able to send a family to the 2018 Gymnastics British Championships in Liverpool, where they also got to meet double-Olympic champion Max Whitlock. Dan Purvis inspired disability gymnasts from across Scotland when he visited a club to assist with a disability gymnastics training camp for them. Claudia Fragapane also got involved, spending time in the gym with a gymnast who had recently lost her father, giving her a training session that she will never forget.

Our Love to Move programme continues to go from strength-to-strength. We have this year won our first contract with a Clinical Commissioning Group (Luton CCG) to deliver health outcomes. We are also very proud to have an offer of project funding from Sport Northern Ireland to develop the Love to Move Programme in another home country. Whilst all this is going on, we have been working hard to develop the Love to Move course for training practitioners, which is key to expanding the programme across the UK.

In addition to that, the Love to Move booklet which we released in 2017 as a free download, has now been downloaded an incredible 254,000 times.

We hope that you will continue to follow our story throughout 2019.