Eggstra Special Gymnastics this Easter – Deerness Gymnastics Academy

Former international gymnasts, world-class coaches and members of talent show winning ‘Acropolis’ will be at Deerness Gymnastics Academy in Durham this Easter offering an eggstra special program of gymnastic activities.

The daytime sessions will take place during the school holidays and provides the opportunity for youngsters aged 4 yrs-12 yrs to give gymnastics a go over the two week break.

The sessions take place on Tuesday 2nd and 9th April and on Wednesday 4th and 10th April between 12 noon and 2pm. The costs is £6 for one session or £10 for two including a free healthy snack and drink.

The sessions will include use of the world class gymnastics facility including foam pit, trampoline, sprung floor and tumble track and will be instructed by qualified coaches from the club. These include:

Stuart Thompson, a former international gymnast turned coach. Stuart is not only a coach for Great Britain and Acropolis but also coached the current acro-gymnastic World Champions.

Richard Hurst, the current acro-gymnastics seniors mens group european and world champion and now is a coach at the club. Richard is also a performing gymnast in Acropolis.

Katie Lawton, a former international acrobat & European medal winner. Katie is a coach and development officer at the club; and

Vicki Copeland, another former international acrobat. Vicky is a qualified teacher and high performance coach with over 15 years coaching experience.

The sessions form part of the community programme introduced by the club after it took over the running of Deerness Gymnastics Academy in 2011, following the closure of Deerness Leisure Centre and it aims to make gymnastics coaching available to all ages from novice to elite level.

“We had over 300 children take part in our Summer sessions last year and the club is really looking forward to these Easter sessions. It is fantastic that so many people are wanting to give gymnastics a try and we try our hardest to accommodate everyone who wants to give gymnastics a go and not to turn people away,” said Karl Wharton, director, Deerness Gymnastics Academy.

“Gymnastics provides many young people throughout Durham and the north east with the opportunity to improve their health and physical development, promote social and emotional skills as well as boost their confidence. These sessions are a great way of learning and practising gymnastic skills and strengths at the same time as having fun. They will hopefully inspire and encourage more people to get involved with the club and help us to develop happy, healthy and confident children.”

Places are still available for the Easter sessions and on Monday April 15 the club will resume its recreational classes aimed at developing happy, healthy and confident children. There are places for hundreds of children on the recreational classes, which run both weekdays after school and weekends, making use of the world-class facilities available at Deerness Gymnastics Academy.

To book or to find out more call: 0191 373 9419 or visit www.deernessgymnastics.org follow on twitter @deernessga or find on Facebook.

via Eggstra Special Gymnastics this Easter – Sky Tyne and Wear.

Tumblers Aim High for Deerness Gymnastics Academy – Sky Tyne and Wear

23 tumblers from Deerness Gymnastics Academy are travelling to South Tyneside this weekend to compete in the North East Tumbling NDP (National Development Plan) Championship taking place at Temple Park Gymnastics Centre on Sunday 24 March.

The gymnasts from Deerness, aged between 8 and 16 will spectacularly somersault and twist their way down the track, using their dynamic reactions, spatial awareness, co-ordination, power, strength and courage to compete to represent the region.

In total hundreds of gymnasts from clubs right across the north east will thrill and entertain with their skills as they contend for medals and the opportunity to proceed to the National NDP Finals, which take place in Stoke-on-Trent in June.

At the same event last year the tumblers from Deerness Gymnastics Academy achieved their best ever results with over half of its competitors winning at regional level, then going on the represent the region at national level, eventually winning 6 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze medals.

via Tumblers Aim High for Deerness Gymnastics Academy – Sky Tyne and Wear.

Gym club appeals for safer future From The Northern Echo

A SUCCESSFUL gymnastics club is appealing for support to beat the vandals who are targeting its academy base.

In the latest crime to hit Deerness Gymnastics Academy, the letter ‘E’ was stolen from the club’s sign just a couple of weeks after it was installed at a cost of more than £2,000.

Karl Wharton, the club’s director of gymnastics, said such mindless acts were really disheartening and affecting the running of the club.

Over the last 25 years, the County Durham club has produced more than 80 international class gymnasts and won more than 60 world and European medals, all from the small village of Ushaw Moor.

Eighteen months ago, the club took over running its base from Durham County Council, which was planning to close it.

Since then, there have been several incidents of theft and vandalism at the facility.

The latest crime took place on Wednesday night (March 13).

Mr Wharton said: “A lot of hard work has gone into ensuring this club has a future and it’s really disheartening that these mindless acts affect the running of this club and its continued development.”

The club now wants to install a new security system to protect the academy.

Mr Wharton appealed to anyone who could help to come forward. To support the appeal, call the academy on 0191-373-9419, email: contact@deernessgymnastics.org.uk or visit deernessgymnastics.org.uk

via Gym club appeals for safer future From The Northern Echo.

Anger after speed limit raised outside Ushaw Moor school (From The Northern Echo)

COUNCILLORS are fuming after a committee voted to increase the speed limit on approach to a busy secondary school.

Durham County Council’s highways committee today (Friday, March 8) voted to raise the limit on part of Whitehouse Lane, in Ushaw Moor, from 30mph to 40mph – despite the area being used by vehicles accessing Durham Community Business College (DCBC).

During the County Hall meeting, Councillor John Turnbull pleaded with his colleagues to preserve the current 30mph limit, saying the increase would be very dangerous and totally wrong.

But his calls for further discussions were refused.

Afterwards, Coun John Wilkinson, who also supported the 30mph limit, said: “I’m very disappointed that this committee has taken no notice of what people in Ushaw Moor want.”

The 30mph limit will come into force further down Whitehouse Lane into Ushaw Moor; but Coun Wilkinson said this was “the wrong place.”

The committee agreed the new regime should be reviewed in 12 months’ time; but Coun Wilkinson said this “won’t mean anything”.

Whitehouse Court, which links Whitehouse Lane to DCBC, will retain its 30mph limit.

The change was part of a wider shake-up which will see 40mph ‘buffer zones’ introduced at both ends of the main road through Bearpark to slow traffic in that village.

Bearpark’s 30mph zone will be shrunk as part of this change.

A spokesman for Durham University, which recently temporarily moved its Durham Business School to nearby Ushaw College, protested the latter part of this proposal.

But Brian Buckley, the council’s strategic highways manager, said the 30mph limit at the Ushaw College end of Bearpark ‘lacks credibility’.

Coun Mark Wilkes said he had been pushing for the Bearpark changes for some time, they made absolute sense and should have happened years ago.

The changes were approved by 11 votes to one, with only Coun Turnbull voting against.

As a result of the changes, there will be no 60mph zone between Bearpark and Durham City. The eastern 40mph buffer zone will extend all the way to Toll House Road, where another 30mph limit begins.

via Anger after speed limit raised outside Ushaw Moor school (From The Northern Echo).

Deerness Gymnasts Jumping for Joy

Deerness Gymnastics Academy is celebrating after their young acrobats returned to the club with nine gold medals and 4 silver medals from the north east acrobatic NDP (National Development Plan) Championship which took place at Temple Park, South Shields last weekend.

33 of the 36 gymnasts from the Durham club achieved a medal, making it the clubs best performance ever at this annual event. And the 24 gymnasts who were part of gold medal winning combinations will now go on to represent the club and the region in the NDP National Finals in May.

Four members of the Dubov family, Tatiana aged 8, Ariana aged 9, Katerina aged 12 and Santiago aged 14 all won gold medals and other siblings were also able to celebrate together too. The full list of results is as follows:

Novice Women’s Group – Poppy Herring, Arianna Dubov & Corinn McDonald – Gold
NDP 1 Women’s Group – Rachel Graham, Amber Robertson & Tatiana Dubov – Gold
NDP 1 Women’s Group – Faith Wilthew, Phoebe Wilthew & Verity Kell – Silver
NDP 1 Women’s Pair – Anna Alderson & Cassie Gaines – Gold
NDP 1 Women’s Pair – Lanna Nuttall & Ebony Young – Silver
NDP 1 Men’s Pair – Mas McLeod & Beau Beresford – Silver
NDP 1 Men’s Group – Maxamilian Wolff, Benjamin Duncan, Daniel Rose, Alec Lowes – Gold
NDP 2 Women’s Group – Amelia Pamler, Louise Burton & Drew Armstrong – Gold
NDP 2 Women’s Group – Rachel Fergus, Caitlin Duffy & Anna Armstrong – 5th
NDP 2 Women’s Pair – Chelsea Nesbitt & Kaira Farrier – Silver
NDP 2 Men’s Pair – Oliver Hillman & Louis Baxter – Gold
NDP 3 Women’s Pair – Katerina Dubov & Bethany MacDougall – Gold
NDP Mixed Pair – Santiago Dubov & Abbie Thompson – Gold
NDP 4 Women’s Group – Vicky Gargan, Chloe Thompson & Jenny Lawson – Gold

There were 21 different categories in total and Deerness entered 11 and won gold in 9 of them and silver in the remaining 2. Last year Deerness won 6 gold, 3 silver and 3 bronze medals.

In total hundreds of gymnasts from clubs right across the north east thrilled and entertained the judges with their high-quality, artistic routines and choreographed performances showcasing their complex acrobatic skills.

“These really are fantastic results for the club. We didn’t think we could better last performances but the hard work and efforts of the gymnasts, their parents and also our coaches and volunteers have been rewarded.” said Karl Wharton, director of gymnastics, Deerness Gymnastics Academy. “As a club Deerness Gymnastics Academy has a strong history and when I see our young gymnasts working so hard week after week preparing for competition, and gaining the confidence and skills that participating in competitive events brings, I am very proud that we not only still have a club but also a great community facility that is able to contribute to the ongoing success of Great Britain gymnastics”.

“Gymnastics provides many young people throughout Durham and the north east with the opportunity to improve their health and physical development, promote social and emotional skills as well as boost their confidence. These tournaments are a great way of demonstrating gymnastic skills and strengths and will hopefully inspire and encourage more people to get involved with the club.”

Deerness Gymnastics Academy has become one of Britain’s top gymnastics clubs over the past twenty years, with over 100 international gymnasts with more than sixty World and European medallists, including four World and six European Champions in its roll of honour. It is not only one of the most successful clubs in Great Britain but it is also recognised on the International scene as one of the top clubs in the world.

The club took over the running of Deerness Gymnastics Academy in 2011, following the closure of Deerness Leisure Centre and is making gymnastics coaching sessions with world-class coaches available to all ages from novice to elite level. To find out more call: 0191 373 9419 or visit www.deernessgymnastics.org follow on twitter @deernessga or find on Facebook.

via Deerness Gymnasts Jumping for Joy – Sky Tyne and Wear.