A move to axe a Darley gymnastics program attended by more than 210 students has left the budding young gymnasts and their parents “shocked and devastated”.
The Acrofun program has been run by Belgravia Leisure for more than three years at Darley Hall, but the service announced on June 10 that as of July 4 it would no longer co-ordinate the program.
This was changed to September 30 at a meeting last Tuesday convened by Belgravia Leisure and attended by more than 70 people, including 20 Acrofun students.
“Over the past three years, the demand has steadily increased, but unfortunately the cost of delivering the program is now beyond [our] financial capacity to subsidise,” said Belgravia Leisure chief executive Damian Gorman.
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Belgravia’s contract with Moorabool council ends on June 30, and although a tender was submitted and accepted by the council, the company decided to cut the service.
“We’re on target to lose $70,000 this financial year from this program … it’s not sustainable for us to keep running it.”
Bacchus Marsh mother Amber Farrugia, whose 11-year-old daughter trains with her level 4 gymnastics squad at Darley Hall for more than nine hours a week, said the club members were very emotional.
“We’re all so upset by this because it has done so much good for our kids,” Ms Farrugia said.
“It keeps them involved in the community, focused and disciplined. When you take things like this away you shatter these ambitions and they become bored and under-stimulated.”
Another mother, May-louise Roe, said Acrofun had helped her young daughter cope.
“[She] has a few additional needs and has struggled so much at school because of it. Since joining Acrofun she has really started to blossom. I fear how much she will regress without the club … it’s been the perfect therapy for her.”
At last week’s meeting, Mr Gorman said that if there was agreement in continuing Acrofun as a registered club, Belgravia Leisure would continue to provide equipment and space at the Darley Hall, with Moorabool council agreeing to not charge rent.
While Ms Farrugia was pleased with the meeting’s outcome, she said it was overwhelming to consider the responsibility the parents would now have to shoulder.
“It’s going to take a big commitment to get it running as a registered club, but we’ll be fighting for it.”
