A POPULAR gym club looks set to be saved after a funding dispute between Warrington Borough Council and an academy was resolved.

Gym Starz, based at University Academy Warrington on Insall Road, Padgate, will continue to run after the council agreed to continue funding over the next five years.

However, it’s long term future will depend on the club eventually being able to support itself financially with help from parents and sponsors.

The subsidy from the council will reduce year on year with Gym Starz needing to become self-sufficient.

A spokesman for Warrington Borough Council said: “The council has agreed to help the club by providing a subsidy and offering support from staff at Active Warrington the council's sports development unit." 

 

Gym Starz was first threatened with closure in January, as revealed in the Warrington Guardian.

Staff received redundancy notices and concerned parents thought the club used by hundreds of youngsters in Padgate would close.

Warrington Borough Council was contracted to pay for it until March 31, while the University of Chester Academies Trust, which sponsors the academy, had refused to pay for the club as it was not ‘financially viable’.

The dispute now appears to be over, although a formal agreement has yet to be put in place.

Alison Sherman, principal of UAW, said: “I am pleased to say that it is looking like the gym and trampoling clubs will remain at the academy.

“This is the outcome we had always hoped for, the problem is that currently the clubs are not financially viable without the local authority subsidy.

“As soon as we have a full agreement the details will be shared with all relevant parties.”

The compromise was backed by Lisa Goodwin, aged 35, of Newton Grove, Fearnhead.

She is club welfare officer at Gym Starz and said: “I’ve not heard anything concrete from anybody but I believe there has been an agreement.

“It’s exactly what we wanted.

“The article that we ran (Warrington Guardian - January 3) pointed out to the council and school that they need to consider us a bit more.

“They have turned around on what they said they were going to do, so we’ve achieved what we set out to do.”