MONARCHS Gymnastics Club have been celebrating a superb first half of the year following an excellent medals tally.

The club came away from the South West preliminaries with 15 medals in total, before further impressive displays at the Swiss Open Championships and South West Championships.

Sue Merrett Club Secretary said: “We have had an incredible half year where we are really seeing the benefits of having our own gymnastics centre which we moved to in December 2012, with the help of our local councils with grants.

“We are now able to use our facilities every day of the week, whereas we were previously only able to train four days a week, and have brought in approximately 20 new gymnasts from our recreational groups in that time.

“It has meant that we have been able to bring in an excellent choreographer with some very exciting new routines to work with the senior gymnasts in the club who have competed at a very high level.”

All of the clubs coaches - Mandy Warburton, Naomi Shepherd, Chloe Sadiq, Zoe Council, Alice Andow, Kerry Harvey and Connor McKenna - are ex gymnasts from the club and are doing an excellent job in passing on their skills to the next generation of gymnasts. Photo below taken in Switzerland at the Swiss Open Championships