A club that trains gymnasts to world-class level is pleading for sponsorship to create a proper teaching centre.

The Oxford School of Gymnastics, which has had no premises for the past three years, is asking businesses to donate £50,000 by Monday, to enable them make a bid to Sportsmatch England to match every pound of the money raised.

With £100,000 the club will be able to install a sprung floor and buy mats, a trampoline, play and sensory equipment for a centre it hopes to rent in Jefferson Way, Thame.

Gymnasts from the school beat competitors from Russia, China and Australia at a contest last November in Washington DC, USA.

Coach Caroline Day, a former international aerobatics gymnast, said: "We are the only city in England that hasn't got a fully equipped gym facility. We want to be able to provide for special needs children, pre-school children and adults.

"For the past three years we have been training in a school hall using substandard mats. The elite squad are competing and winning at an international level, but they simply can't go any further with the equipment we're using."

Cherry Ballantyne, of Garsington, is the mother of Amber Styles, an 11-year-old who is part of the elite team after three years of training.

Ms Ballantyne said: "She couldn't even do a handstand when she first started. Now she is a base in a trio of girls, which means she catapults the girls in the air and is at the bottom holding them up.

"During the holidays she trains 36 hours a week and, in a normal week, 18 hours.

"I've now taken her out of school and am giving her home schooling. The dream is to get to the Olympic games for 2012."

The school is supported by Sir Richard Branson and Henley MP Boris Johnson. It received a £25,000 grant from South Oxfordshire District Council in 2004.

The gymnasts practise in Lord William's School, Thame. Call 01865 361883 or e-mail aerobatics@btinternet.com