Big celebrations at the Forest of Dean Gymnastics & Fitness Centre are planned for this week as staff and members celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Centre opening. It was officially opened by the Minister for Sport, Tony Banks, in 1996.

Today the state of the art gym has 440 members and 20 staff. Thousands of Forest children have tried gymnastics at the Club enjoying the activities and facilities that the Centre offers.

Many of these past and present members will be returning to the Centre this week as everyone is invited to an Open Week which is being held from Monday, June 6th - June 12th.

You can try a fitness machine, join in a fitness class or watch the gymnasts training. There will be a special 20% discount offer on Fitness memberships until June 19th too.

20 years ago the Forest of Dean Gymnastics Club moved into their brand new, purpose built Gymnastics & Fitness Centre built after 11 years of hard fundraising and grant seeking. Finally grants totalling nearly £1 million were approved by the Foundation for Sports and the Arts and the National Lottery enabling the project to go ahead.

The Club had only 88 gymnasts aged 5 – 16 and a few part time coaches before it moved from the Five Acres Leisure Centre gym where apparatus had to be set out and put away daily before training.

The Gymnastics Club runs regular sessions for 12 schools, organises the Forest of Dean Primary Schools Competition annually, with around 180 entries each year, and includes Little Stars Nursery children in their weekly Mini Gym classes. Birthday parties and holiday sessions allow all children to enjoy the exciting apparatus.

The Gymnastics Club has another celebration coming up as it will also celebrate its 40th birthday on November 4th having been started at Berry Hill Primary School in 1976. Run as a registered Charity the Gymnastics Club has been a flag ship organisation for the Forest.