Festive treat marks silver jubilee
More than 200 gymnasts took part in front of three sell-out audiences at Baskerville's Englishcombe Lane headquarters.
Almost 500 spectators appreciated the time and effort that went into the show and also the pure enjoyment of the performers.
The gymnasts were not judged on their performance as the aim was to provide pure entertainment on a grand scale.
More than £1,000 was raised from the sale of entry and raffle tickets, and the sum will be put towards the costs of a new floor area and equipment for the competition gymnasts.
The gym was set up in a former church hall in Twerton in 1984 by former Culverhay School teachers Robin and Barbara Baskerville, and was the first centre of it's kind in the South West. Robin was a high board diver at the Mexico Olympics.
Since then, it has provided gymnastics coaching to more than 20,000 children from Bath and the surrounding area – with 1,000 attending sessions every week.
The gym, which plays a large part in promoting health and fitness and the fight against obesity, is still very much family-based. Robin and Barbara are assisted by daughters Emma and Vicky – the director of the centre – and son Paul, who helps out in between his sports coaching studies at Cardiff University.
In attendance at the Christmas gala weekend were several councillors including Mayor of Bath Colin Barrett and Roger Symonds, who trained with Barbara Baskerville as a teacher. Ex-councillor Denis Lovelace and his wife Daphne, who helped with the initial planning application for the first gym on the Lower Bristol Road over 25 years ago, also paid a visit, along with several of the club's former gymnasts.
For more information on the club either visit www.baskervillesgym.co.uk or call 01225 330001.
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