A gymnastics volunteer from Saltney has been singled out for national recognition for her efforts to make the sport more accessible over the past 35 years.

Denise Bayley, 65, is the founder and volunteer of Saltney Gymnastics Club and has been shortlisted in the Volunteer of the Year category ahead of the British Gymnastics Awards.

Bayley began volunteering because her daughter was a gymnast at the club – and was thrilled to be nominated for the prestigious Volunteer of the Year prize after opening the doors for more children to take up the sport.

"It was it was quite a shock," she said.

"It's a lovely feeling to be nominated and I've received a lot of nice messages from former gymnasts congratulating me.

"I've been coaching for over 35 years, and I've always been voluntary, right way through since I started the club. "All the fees and the fundraising go back into the club and that's how it's always been because we need to give into the youth of tomorrow.

"The opportunities to do gymnastics were never available to me growing up and it wasn't as easy for you to access anything.

"But when my oldest daughter came home and said, 'I want to do gymnastics', I started staying and helping and I just really got hooked into the sport.

"I worked permanent nights so that I could run the gym club in the day for athletes.

"I want the sport to carry on I want children to have the accessibility to gymnastics that wasn't around when I was child."

The British Gymnastics Awards are community led and about championing those who make the sport an uplifting experience for all, with more nominations than ever before coming in this year.

It is the creativity, dedication and passion from people in the sport that make gymnastics an accessible, inclusive and enjoyable sport for all.

The nominations have been judged by panels made up of British Gymnastics committee members and external panellists from across UK Sport, Gymnova, Milano, Gymaid, Youth Sport Trust, Sport England, Women in Sport, The Include Summit, Sport and Recreation Alliance, The Sport for Development Coalition and GB gymnasts.

With Bayley at the helm, Saltney Gymnastics have enjoyed a wide range of success over the years, with gymnasts going to national and international competitions.

But Bayley, who worked nights as a staff nurse before retirement, is proud of the impact that the club has at every level of competition and relishes the reward of seeing a gymnast progress - stating it as the reason behind her love for volunteering.

"I encourage them because I feel that every child has got their own level that they can achieve," she said.

"With encouragement they can get where they want to be. And if they've got any problems or issues, they'll come and tell me if they need to because I'm a shoulder to cry on as well as a coach.

"It's the same with the older gymnasts that feel like they can't do the training anymore, I'll encourage them to either go as judges or coaches and leaders because then it keeps them in the sport.

"We had a little boy recently who couldn't climb stairs.

"He had special needs and he lived in a bungalow, but we actually managed to teach him to do a forward roll and climb the wall bars.

"So in the Christmas show that we had him do a forward roll for everyone and I think every coach was in tears.

"It's the things like that you never ever forget."

The British Gymnastics Awards celebrate those at the heart of gymnastics who create an uplifting experience for all. British Gymnastics has launched a new vision for a new era of gymnastics, learn more about Leap Without Limits here - https://www.british-gymnastics.org/vision