Halesowen gymnastics club is awarded £10,000 grant

The gymnastics club that started Olympic bronze medallist Kristian Thomas on his road to glory will get a cash windfall to help its battle to survive, it was revealed today.

The Earls Gymnastics Club, in Halesowen, has been given nearly £10,000 by Dudley Council to pay for new equipment. It comes after club chairman John Caulwell held discussions with council officers.

Ward councillor Ken Turner helped the club apply for the grant from Halesowen Area Committee community funds.

Talks are also ongoing into any external funding that the council can help Mr Caulwell apply for.

Five coaches have already been laid off this year as the £100,000-a-year running costs are paid solely from membership fees as the club receives no other grants from the council or sports bodies.

Kristian, of Wednesfield, helped win Great Britain's first medal in the team event for a century when they scooped bronze at London 2012.

The £9,814 will go towards a new ring frame, parallel bars, a pommel horse, vault tracks and coaching blocks.

The total costs of the equipment needed is close to £13,000 but Mr Caulwell says the grant will be a "massive help".

He said: "This is a very significant contribution to keeping the club going. We desperately need equipment so the money would just go towards that.

"It seems things are moving in the right direction. It just needed a spark to make people notice, but we got a complete fireworks display with Kristian's performance in the Olympics."

Kristian was given a hero's welcome at the Furnace Lane club earlier in the week and spoke of his hope that its future would be secured.

By Adam Burling