Celebrating 15 years of fantastic gymnastics at Head Over Heels

The celebrations were in full swing at Head Over Heels last week as the club celebrated its 15^th birthday.

Head over Heels, which runs out of the sports hall at Trinity Methodist Church on Glasllwch Lane in Newport, was opened back in 2007 by Kate Humphries and Bev Proctor to cater for toddlers between the ages of six months and four years.

The club has expanded and gone from strength to strength over the years with more than 1,100 members now on the books, ranging from seven months to 11 years.

To mark their 15^th birthday, the club held fun-filled fancy dress classes throughout last week for all their gymnasts to get involved with.

It was a week full of laughter, games and, of course, fantastic gymnastics!

“We had a fantastic week, with so many happy little gymnasts and such positive feedback from our gymnast families about the environment we have created at Head Over Heels; it was a really emotional week,” said Bev.

“We had one family whose 18-year-old daughter was one of our first pre-schoolers and came along this week with her three-year-old sister who is with us now; definitely one of our longest serving families!”

Over the past 15 years the club has also become a pillar of the community.

The club runs classes from parent and toddler (under 2’s) through to school age year 6.

The sessions are jam-packed, providing opportunities for children to develop and progress along their gymnastics pathway.

Bev added: “When we started 15 years ago, we did not envision for a minute that we would become the club we are now.

“Our own children have formed a huge part of our development, with many of them coaching over the years and themselves loving the nurturing environment we have created.

“We have also enjoyed having five members of the coaching team this year who first attended as pre-school gymnasts!

“A highlight is definitely the support we have received since coming back from Covid with all the families joining back as soon as they could and so many new families since then as well.

“We were blown away with the enthusiasm.

“Our first displays to parents for two years just showed how much the children love their gymnastics and we were delighted with how the displays and the new British Gymnastics Rise programme was received.

“We continue to grow in order to accommodate our pre-school gymnasts moving into our school age classes in September and, hopefully, continue to play a big role in developing the love of gymnastics and activity in the area.”

For more information on Head Over Heels, visit the club’s website.