Family-run Gloucester gymnastics club hit by flooding ahead of key competitions

A gymnastics club in Gloucestershire is facing thousands of pounds' worth of damage after flash flooding on Friday 20 September.

Checkers Gymnastics Club on Upton Street in Gloucester caters to gymnasts from beginner to international level.

It's a family-run community interest company (CIC) which means any profit it makes goes back into the club.

Carl Lester, operations manager, said: "The flooding came in from everywhere really, through the roof and the walls.

"We had a training session going on at the time when it started coming in around 6.15pm on Friday evening."

It comes during the club's "busiest time of year", Mr Lester explained.

Checkers has an in-house competition looming, and its athletes are in training for the South West Championships on 5 October.

He added: "We are probably going to have replace our competition floor, because it’s a sprung floor with a wooden base, which will need completely replaced 

"Our oil heater has been damaged so the heating system needs to be looked at 

"We have a 25-metre track that will cost around £7,000 to replace and then our some of our computers and IT equipment in the office was damaged."

Mr Lester added that the gym had flooded before, but he had never seen it happen to this extent.

"When we had an incident like this before, we managed to stop the gym from flooding.

"It turned out to be due to a build-up of moss which was sorted out.

"It’s just difficult because we are family-run and all our profits go back into the club, so this means the club will miss out."

A fundraiser has been launched to help the club here.