Charity refurb for gymnastics club
SOUTHPORT Gymnastics Club has been kitted out with new changing rooms and reception area – thanks to the Benjamin Gautrey Foundation.
The club, which was taken over by a parent-run group after being threatened with closure last year, was chosen by the foundation to benefit from a major refurb courtesy of Marks & Spencer.
The Benjamin Gautrey Foundation, set up in honour of the Southport teenager who died in a motorbike race crash in 2011, is the chosen charity of the year for the Southport branch of M&S and was able to chose a worthy project to help.
Ben attended the club for 12 years and his mum, Lorraine, who has worked at the store for more than 20 years, knew that it was the perfect cause to pick.
Workers from Southport decorators TJ Sammin, and volunteers from the store and foundation, spent three days carrying out major refurbishment work.
The foundation also installed a muchawaited new sign with the gym’s new name and re-floored the office area.
Sarah Simcock, one of the parents who helped save the club, said: “What M&S have done is just fantastic!
“When we took over, a group of parents got paint brushes and touched things up a bit. When M&S got in touch we thought it would be the same thing but we’ve been blown away with what they’ve done.”
“We’re all over the moon with it, the changes they’ve made are fantastic.
“We want to say a huge thank you to everybody involved – the Ben Gautrey Foundation, all the staff at M&S and the local tradesmen who carried out the work.”
Lorraine said: “This is one project I knew people would really react to.
“I know it’s one thing that Ben was very passionate about. With everything he did, it was all rooted in and started with the gymnastics and it always meant a lot to him.”
Before Christmas, the club was set a target of raising £50,000 which would then be matched by an anonymous donor – that total was achieved and the donation is expected to be received soon.
In total, £350,000 must be raised to buy the building and, with further fundraising plans in the works, there is real optimism that the group will reach that target.