Cork children's gym club praised for its inclusivity risks closure
Cork Acro member Isobel Twomey bouncing on the trampoline at the National Gymnastics Training Centre Dublin.
An internationally-acclaimed sporting club in Cork, lauded for its inclusivity of all abilities, is facing closure unless it can plug a financial hole to get it through the next three months.
Cork Acro Gymnastics Club, based in Carrigtwohill, has about 600 members, ranging from perennial international gold medalists to beginners.
Crucially, it is also home to about 25 members of the GymAble programme, which has been described as a lifeline to families of children with physical, intellectual, and sensory difficulties.
Cork Acro was one of the flagship clubs to embrace the Gymnastics Ireland GymAble programme, the winner of the Inclusivity Award at the 2019 Irish Sport Industry Awards.
Families have waxed lyrical about GymAble at Cork Acro, which has allowed their children to join their peers, with their physical and mental development rocketing to levels they never thought possible.
Children with Down syndrome or autism, or who use wheelchairs and walkers, who had previously found they could not participate in sports, suddenly had an outlet to excel, express themselves and be part of a burgeoning sport.
However, the Covid-19 crisis has meant severe financial hardship for the club, founded in 1982 by Clare and Neil Sheehan, and which has seen gymnasts winning gold for Ireland in a range of international competitions in the 38 years since.
Ms Sheehan said seeing the GymAble children progress was as good as any gold medal.
"We have one for children with physical disabilities and a separate one for children with intellectual or sensory difficulties. It gives these children an open-door policy into the club.
“We’ve had children with amputations, who are living with cerebral palsy – gymnastics can be adaptive for every child. For children with physical disabilities, it is an assistance to rehabilitation, especially for those whose families struggle to fund such expensive rehabilitation privately.
“We work with the national governing body, Gymnastics Ireland, who help us to fund the GymAble programme, and it has been wonderful to see such development."
Ms Sheehan told the that if they could raise €6,000, it would get them through the next few months, and hopefully provide a path to a future.
The gym is open for individual training only as traditional classes are not allowed back under level 3 restrictions. GymAble will return again in level 2.
“We have to keep our numbers small per class at the moment with restrictions and there is individual training only, spread out around the gym. Until this passes, we don’t want the club to have to close and try and reopen again in 12 months time to pick up the pieces, because we won’t have a venue. We want to keep the club afloat,” Ms Sheehan said.
Ensuring no family is out of pocket by crediting subscriptions already paid means funding that would normally be due early in the new year will have dried up, and bills have to be paid to keep it open, according to Ms Sheehan.
“For any child that had paid subscription fees before we closed in March and again in October, we are crediting every class. That means that where we would normally have subscriptions coming in early January, we won’t have them coming in until March. We need to get over those months if we want to survive. If we don’t make up the shortfall, we will be in trouble.”
The club has launched a GoFundMe appeal with the €6,000 target. More than €2,500 has been raised, but there is still a long way to go.
“There are clubs all over Ireland struggling as much as we are, so we really appreciate the generosity. If we can just get through the next few months, we can get back to creating those memories and experiences,” Ms Sheehan said.
You can support the club here.
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