WATCH: Why Fyrish Gymnastics Club means so much to so many
COACHES at an Easter Ross gymnastics club whose facilities are the envy of the Highlands and islands have spoken of its life-changing impact on the local community.
As previously reported, Fyrish Gymnastics Club in Alness is facing an uncertain future after the premises in which it has established a purpose-built set-up were put on the open market by landlord BT.
The club was given the opportunity to buy the premises 11 months ago, sparking a fundraising drive.
But it says that last month it “received the unexpected news that the offer was withdrawn with immediate effect and they now want over double the original offer”.
MP Jamie Stone and MSP Maree Todd have pledged to help find a solution.
The club has a lease which runs until 2028 and has enjoyed a cut-rate rent from the telecoms giant.
With gymnasts twisting, turning and tumbling around her as she spoke at the premises in Alness, coach Hannah Emerson noted some of the young gymnasts come five times a week.
She joked: “I think sometimes we see them more than their parents!”
“It’s also that you get to know the kids - sometimes I feel as if they are literally our own kids - we see them after school, we see them on the weekends and when we’re going to competitions and we are in the hotel and have dinner together and we do things outside of the gym. They mean a lot to us.
“They say the same - gymnastics is literally their lives.”
