Miss Poppy’s gymnastics club in Abingdon needs a new home

Miss Poppy's gymnastics club in Abingdon is based at the town's John Mason School in Wootton Road.

It started with just three gymnasts in November 2018 but has skyrocketed in popularity with 420 members and 600 more eager gymnasts on the waiting list.

READ ALSO: Didcot and surrounding areas Ukrainian Refugee Support Group

Poppy Smith, 26, is a personal trainer and was a competitive gymnast. She started Miss Poppy's a year before the pandemic with the hope of spreading her love of the sport.

Miss Smith said: "I was cartwheeling around the garden at the age of four. I was an incredibly shy kid, I struggled to go into school. Gymnastics was the one thing that I really took to and filled me with confidence."

Miss Smith never expected the club to become so popular. She added: "Everyone wants to do gymnastics which is amazing because I eat, sleep, breath, gymnastics."

The gymnastics club has now become so successful, that it is on the look out for a new home.

READ ALSO: Wallingford telephone box refurbished for art display

Over lockdown Miss Smith was forced to get creative to keep the classes running and started holding the training six days a week over video calls.

She said: "We ran all of the classes from my living room on Zoom. We were so inventive with the different techniques we were using. We used the sofas and cushions and scavenger hunts around the house."

Once lockdown lifted, the club were still not able to host the classes inside, however, John Mason School let the young gymnasts use its school field in all weathers.

READ ALSO: John Fieldsend awarded BEM for work with National Holocaust Museum

Miss Smith said: "It was freezing, we were training in hoodies, coats the lot. We were out in that field when it was snowing, but again we continued training on the field."

Now the club runs six days a week with Saturday morning classes, it has more than 400 members ranging from the age of two to 17. The club has competition gymnasts and already holds four national titles.

Miss Smith said: "I am 100 per-cent 'maxed out' now. I cannot fit anymore gymnasts into the current location I am in. We have had gymnasts on our waiting list for six months now."

Miss Smith is now on the lookout for a venue that will give the club the opportunity to run more classes.

She said: "I am just hoping there will be someone, somewhere that will be able to help out."

Read more from this author

This story was written by Rebecca Whittaker, she joined the team in 2019 as a multimedia reporter.

Rebecca covers education and news in Abingdon and Wantage.

Get in touch with her by emailing: Rebecca.Whittaker@newquest.co.uk or calling 07824524333

Follow her on Twitter @RebecWhitt

A message from our Editor

Thank you for reading this story and supporting the Oxford Mail.

If you like what we do please consider getting a subscription for the Oxford Mail and in return we’ll give you unrestricted access with less adverts across our website from the latest news, investigations, features, and sport.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tik Tok for more. 

You can also join the conversation in our Facebook groups: stay ahead of traffic alerts here, keep up to date with the latest from court here, share your favourite memories of Oxford here, get your daily dose of celebrity news here and take some time out with news that will make you smile. 

If you’ve got a story for our reporters, send us your news here. You can also list an event for free here.