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Ladywell
Gymnastics Club was founded in the London Borough of
Lewisham in 1967 by Jim and Pauline Prestidge,
at The Playtower in Ladywell. At that time, they were
regarded as the major motivators of modern gymnastics
in Great Britain. Their Club, Ladywell Gymnastics Club,
was unique for its time and national squad members trained
there at weekends. One of these, Avril Lennox, OBE,
an Olympic gymnast, used to travel to Lewisham from
the Midlands to train. The club produced many national
and international gymnasts as well as British champions
down the years. Suzanne Dando, now a successful broadcaster, is a former member of the Club.
The Club was moved from The Playtower to Lewisham Leisure
Centre in Rennell Street in 1977. At this time, Mr and
Mrs Prestige found a purpose built gymnastics facility
and moved to the North of England. Despite the cramped
conditions, the Club found itself in and continued to
produce gymnasts of national and international standard.
In
1996, Ladywell Gymnastics Club found itself being forcefully
relocated, ironically back to The Playtower in Ladywell,
despite the fact that The Playtower had been unoccupied
for a year as a condemned building! |
Suzanne
Dando
|
The
Club almost did not survive this move and radical change,
but due mainly to the drive, persistence and dedication of
Shirley Callaghan, the Club grew from a handful
of volunteer coaches and approximately 30 gymnasts to a thriving,
non-profit making small business with full and part-time staff,
approximately 600 members and a long waiting list! The Club flourished
despite the many hardships it had to overcome to survive in
The Playtower and now has gymnasts competing at Club, Regional
and National Levels.
In
April 2004, with the aid of a Lottery Grant and funding from
the London Borough of Lewisham, the Club moved to a permanent
new purpose-built facility, housed within the Bellingham Leisure
and Lifestyle Centre in Randlesdown Road, Bellingham, Lewisham.
Since the move, the Club has continued to thrive and has become an integral part of, and a corner-stone of the local community.
Here
we provide the community with a much needed service, while
also producing gymnasts of a high standard to maintain the
Ladywell tradition. The new facility enables us to provide
a lasting memory to our founders and a fitting environment
for the present staff and members who have fought to keep
the Club alive through thick and thin. |
