As a parent I’m sure you’d love to make all your children’s dreams come true and by bringing them to gymnastics, trampolining or freerunning we are encouraging your little ones to live their dreams and grow their confidence, make new friends and have loads of fun.
When I was a little boy, I was a bit of a handful. My poor mum was desperately trying to find a way to help me and my brother burn off our seemingly infinite levels of energy. Luckily, one day when I was 4 years old she had the brainwave to to take me and my older brother Andrew, aged 6, to our local gymnastics club. Suddenly all our energy became a positive thing and we both loved it and by the time I was 8 years old I was training for 8 hours a week and soon went on to compete at regional and national championships across the country.
I competed against lots of gymnasts including Matt Baker, from ‘The One Show.’ He was also one of those kids who had so much energy that he bounced off the walls.
At school, I loved drama, music and P.E. and after joining a local Drama Club I caught the acting bug so my mum found me an agent and I started auditioning and appeared in some TV commercials, musicals and pantomimes.
As I got older, the link between gymnastics and acting moved on quite naturally and made me think about becoming a stuntman. So I went to a circus school and then became a professional stuntman which I have now been for the past 20 years working on big movies like ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Sherlock Holmes’ and television including ‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘24,’ ‘Wolf Hall’ and ‘Eastenders’ amongst countless others!
As it was the 32 year anniversary of Eastenders first being broadcast last week I thought I’d share with you my experience of working on the TV programme. As a young teen I was a fan of the show and I was lucky enough to work on Eastenders in January 2012. I was the stunt double for the character David Wicks played by Michael French when he dramatically made a shock return to the Square. It was surreal filming the scene and being in ‘Albert Square.’ I got thrown against a car having a punch up and ended up lying on the pavement in Albert Square as the famous ‘Dum, dum, dum’ music starts and the credits roll.
I tell you this because… As an unruly child, I would never have thought that my dreams would come true and that I would end up working on TV shows and blockbuster movies. So, can doing gymnastics make your dreams come true? I would have to say the answer is a resounding YES!
As a parent I would urge you to listen to your child’s dreams no matter how extreme or unusual they may sound… help them to follow their dreams as they CAN and DO come true.
I would never have got to where I am today without my mum taking me to the local gymnastics club. It is here that I learnt the most important life skills of all which I have transferred into my adult life..
I also truly believe that Gymnastics is the foundation of all sports. Gym will help your child to achieve in all other sports they take part in as well as improve their concentration and build they’re confidence to the max. They will also learn how to work as a team as well as making friends for life and having loads of fun.
To quote Matt Baker who recently said “Gymnastics forms the basis of everything I believe in. You have to go for something 100%. Don’t get distracted. Keep your head down and work hard.”
Or as my inspiration, Walt Disney said “A dream is a wish your heart makes.”
Until next time…
To join a Flair Gym Club and start your gymnastics adventure
Book online here> http://www.ukflair.com/clubs
Or just call us on 01483 654440
Best wishes,
Richard
Founder and CEO at Flair Gymnastics