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Park Wrekin is a highly successful gymnastics club and is enjoying an unprecedented period of renewal and expansion. Following full renovation, the club now has a state-of-the-art gymnasium and Olympic-quality apparatus and equipment. But to continue our mission to grow the club and continue to provide world class coaching, we need your help. Scroll down to read messages from our Head Coach and Treasurer…
The Gymnastics Case
In 2008, an American journalist named Malcom Gladwell wrote a hugely popular book entitled ‘Outliers’. In the book, Gladwell asserted that 10,000 hours of practice was the determinant of expertise at any discipline or sport. It’s a seductive thought, isn’t it? ‘If only I’d been more diligent, I too could have equalled Nadia Comaneci and scored a perfect 10 on the Asymmetric Bars’.
One of the most famous sporting aphorisms of the 20th Century has been ascribed by many to the great South African golfer, Gary Player, who is reported to have jokingly said, ‘The harder I practice, the luckier I get’.
There is some scientific justification for both remarks, although most academic researchers now agree that just ‘putting in the hours’ is insufficient. The mastery of sporting skill is also determined by three other factors – the quality of the practice, having the necessary innate natural talent and the possession of particular physical gifts. Oh well, perhaps we can’t all be world champions.
Of course, not everyone is as equally driven or competitive as these two legendary athletes. For the vast majority of us, realising our gymnastic potential, and having fun doing so, is far more important. I assure you that, for a 4 year old, the first successful completion of a forward roll can be a moment of sublime pride and joy!
At Park Wrekin, we cannot (and would not wish to) change the physical attributes with which our members are born. But, we can provide the motivation to practice by making the training and coaching as enjoyable and rewarding as possible. We can determine the quality of practice by employing the very best coaches, and by having the very best apparatus and environment. And we can help discover and release whatever latent natural talent that a gymnast possesses.
As you probably know, we have recently made a significant investment in the club. We have spent over £200,000 on renovating and re-equipping our new premises. We now have one of the finest gymnasiums in the UK. We are, of course, proud – but far from complacent. If we are to continue to help our members realise their dreams, we need to constantly invest in maintaining and improving our facilities – for both gymnasts and their parents.
And if we are to achieve our goal to provide gymnastics for everyone, regardless of age, talent or experience, we must put on more classes, expand the range of gymnastic disciplines that we offer and encourage new people into our sport – and this is where you can help.
Park Wrekin is a charity. For the club to be accessible to as many people as possible, we do everything within our power to minimise our fees and costs. If we are to continue to offer a state-of-the-art gymnasium, staffed by world-class coaches, we need your donations. All gifts are welcome, large or small. We offer nothing in return except the smiling faces, self-confidence and self-esteem of our gymnasts and your children.
Please, click on this link to make a donation – and make a difference!
Thank you.
Christine Still
Head Coach
The Business Case
During 2016, Park Wrekin was approached by The Beacon Co-operative Learning Trust, leaseholders of Charlton School Sports Hall, which offered the club the opportunity to sign a sub-lease at a peppercorn annual rent but assuming the, not inconsiderable, liabilities and costs.
The Board of Trustees did not hesitate, however. Park Wrekin immediately seized the chance to renovate the property, designing and building a brand-new gymnasium that would be fully equipped to Olympic standards.
But a charity is no different to any other business. Unless its income exceeds its costs, it will fail. Unless it successfully manages its cash-flow, by ensuring that money is collected before it is spent, it will go bankrupt – regardless of how much of an income surplus it enjoys.
At Park Wrekin, our primary sources of revenue are our membership and coaching fees. All of our insurance income goes directly to British Gymnastics. When we can, we also apply for any Grants that may become available and have been lucky enough to secure some one-off funding from the National Lottery for the renovation of the new gymnasium.
Through prudent management over recent years, we have built financial reserves which, when combined with the National Lottery Grant and our membership revenues, go a long way to ensuring our continued stability. However, if we are to guarantee our financial security, we need to generate additional income. Part of this will come from increasing the number of gymnastics classes; part by offering additional disciplines; and part from increasing our membership base.
But simply covering our costs and surviving is not our objective – as a ‘business’, nor as a charity. We must be able to accrue for the inevitable repairs and maintenance, to buy replacement equipment as our apparatus ages, and to upgrade the facilities for both members and parents alike.
And this is where you come in. Every donation that you can make will help us further along the path to financial security and the continued provision of a world-class gymnastics centre for the people of Telford, Shrewsbury, Wolverhampton, Stafford and beyond.
Please help us to ensure that Park Wrekin remains the most successful gymnastics club in the West Midlands, now and for many years into the future.
Please click on this link to donate whatever you can afford.
Many thanks.
Brett Racher
Treasurer
- And, don’t forget, A charitable donation to Park Wrekin – whether large or small, from an individual or a business – is a deductible expense from your income tax.
Donate Now!
Please donate whatever you can afford to help secure Park Wrekin’s future as a world-class gymnastics club serving Telford, Shropshire and the West Midlands