Stamford Gymnastics Club owner doing sponsored skydive to fundraise £15,000 for new building

The owner of a gymnastics club near Peterborough is fundraising £15,000 to build a new purpose-built facility.

Matthew Cooper, 33, head coach of Stamford Gymnastics Club, based at Casterton College, hopes to fundraise enough money in the next year to buy gymnastics equipment and open a new home for the club.

He has called for sponsorship from local businesses, the community and will round-off his fundraising efforts with a sponsored skydive.

“I have set myself twelve months to raise as much funds as I can so we can purchase equipment - such as biscuit matting for under the bars and beam, crash mats and top matting for the floor area,” he said.

“I will offer sponsorship opportunities and fundraise in the local community and will finish my year’s efforts with a skydive.”

Stamford Gymnastics Club began as an after-school club with 16 gymnasts.

It now holds three classes per week for 141 registered gymnasts – with over 300 people on a waiting list to join the classes.

Mat, from Baston, has coached gymnastics for over 20 years, and recently gave up his full-time position at Huntingdon Gymnastics Club to focus on developing Stamford Gymnastics Club.

He continued to teach members of the club via Zoom during the pandemic.

“The gymnasts have worked hard to perfect their skills and I didn’t want those talents to be lost when we couldn’t teach face to face so I held virtual sessions, and just seeing the gymnasts happy in these sessions made me really happy.”

The JustGiving page has raised £615, at the time of writing.