Jersey gymnastics club relocates to Fort Regent hall

Although sports clubs must leave Fort Regent by September, a gymnastics club has been given permission to stay for one year

A Jersey gymnastics club for people with special needs has temporarily moved to Fort Regent.

Jersey Special Gymnastics Club is now housed in the hall alongside the Covid vaccination centre clinic.

In May 2022, the States said sports clubs based at Fort Regent would have until September 2023 to "move out" ahead of redevelopment plans.

The club has been without a base since July. The government said it could stay at Fort Regent until the end of 2023.

The club has been without a home since July 2022

Coach Nikki Kirkland said the hall was a good short-term solution until it found a permanent place to practice.

She said: "We're still on the hunt for a permanent home, but at least having this means we can keep training and we keep our members because that was the fear, that we would lose a lot of our members because of the gap.

"It is working and the people that work in the vaccination centre have been so lovely."

The government said the club could stay at Fort Regent until the end of 2023

Lucy Stephenson, the Assistant Minister for Sport Deputy, said the redevelopment of Fort Regent does not include locations for island sports clubs.

She said: "We are moving towards a decant of sport from Fort Regent, which is still scheduled to happen by the end of this year, it gives the club a year."

She added "hopefully we can help work with the club in the future to find a permanent home".

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