A POPULAR sports club is being forced to look for new premises after it was given notice leave its current venue, Bolton St Catherine’s Academy.

Bolton Trampoline Club has to find new premises by August 31.

The club which has been established for 30 years has been based at the school for six years and started at Withins Leisure Centre, which was on the grounds of Withins School.

Withins School was closed and Bolton St Catherine’s Academy opened on the school land.

Karen McCurdy, Chairwoman of the club, said: “The club has over 200 members aged five to 50-plus who attend recreational sessions alongside an extremely successful competitive squad who compete at national level across the country. We coach sessions every evening and Saturday and Sunday mornings with a team of highly qualified coaches.

“The club owns all its own equipment including six trampolines and matting which we have successfully raised the funds to buy over the years; the main even being our annual competition which is attended by clubs from across the North West.

“The club is run by a committee of volunteers who have been working hard to find an alternative venue but with no success up to now. We have looked at a range of sports halls in Bolton and the surrounding area, but it it is proving very difficult to find a venue that can offer us their facilities seven days a week and accommodate our extensive amount of equipment.”

Mrs McCurdy said the club is able to refurbish the premisses if needed through a sports grant bid.

“Parents have been so supportive and we all driving around looking at buildings thinking if they are high enough,” she said, “We have to look at this as a new step and new chapter for the trampoline club.”

Mrs McCurdy said: “Our ideal scenario would be a purpose built centre of excellence where we could have our equipment permanently set up and be able to offer additional sessions to the ones currently available alongside activities such as summer holiday camps. This has led us to investigate buying or renting warehouses, industrial units or alternative buildings, however it is difficult to find a suitable facility which meets British Gymnastics recommendation of eight metres high.”

A spokesman for the school said: “As part of our ongoing evaluation of how we best serve our students, parents and immediate community, a decision was made in July of 2017 that we needed to provide more variety and be more inclusive in our provision to meet and serve the needs of our community of learners. This did mean a reallocation of the space used by Bolton Trampoline Club in order to meet these requirements.

“Bolton Trampoline Club were informed of this decision in July 2017 and that our agreement with the club would end at the end of August 2018 — over 12 months from the original notification — to give the club lots of time to find new premises and organise an effective transition.

“We wish this successful and popular club all the very best for the future.”

Anyone who can help the club find new premises should email chair@boltontrampolineclub.co.uk or send a message through the club’s Facebook page.