BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Jackie, a Chartered Accountant, Chartered Tax Advisor and a member of the Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners is a partner in a mid-tier national firm of accountants and business advisors. Managing a team of 10 she has been providing business and tax advisory and compliance services to owner managed businesses, large employers and individuals for over 25 years. Outside of work she has been Chair of the Hull branch of the Chartered Institute of Taxation, a governor of the local school and treasurer of their parent’s fundraising group. With a keen interest in gymnastics, Jackie has been actively involved in the WA parents group at City of Leeds Gymnastics Club for many years and is a qualified regional WA judge. She regularly judges for the club and as an independent judge in the Yorkshire East region.

Emma is one of our newest Directors, joining the board in 2019. With 2 young children, she has been a member of the club for a couple of years bringing them to parent and toddler groups, pre-school and now general gymnastics classes. Emma has a strong background in marketing and business development, mainly in the hospitality and tourism sectors, and brings a wealth of experience to the club. She is heavily involved in Gymfest and looking at ways to generate more income for the business as a whole. Her first activity as a board member was the introduction of the vending machines and pushing for the viewing gallery to be opened up to provide a more enjoyable experience for all.

Chris has been a member of the club for over 30 years both as gymnast and coach. He first joined the club when it was Leeds Athletic Institute based at Jack Lane, since which time Chris has seen the club relocate a number of times initially to west Leeds then Leeds Metropolitan University (now Leeds Beckett University) and finally to its current Seacroft location, where he was employed as Director of Gymnastics. Chris has coached gymnasts in both Men’s and Women’s Artistic disciplines helping them to achieve medal success at British and International level. In particular, Chris had the privilege to work as the personal coach of both Ashley Watson and Matthew Firth, guiding them on their journey from 7yr old boys through to adulthood where they achieved success on the World stage. He has coached at World Championships, Commonwealth Games, two World Student Games and numerous World Cups. For the majority of his coaching career Chris juggled performance coaching with a full-time academic role as a university lecturer. He has a PhD in Biomechanics and currently works as a Senior Lecturer in Sports Coaching at Leeds Beckett University.

Bev’s connection with Leeds Gymnastics’ Club dates back to 2002 when her daughter began training at the Leeds Carnegie site. Bev’s decision to reconnect with the Club and join the Board of Directors in November, 2019, was based upon a desire to utilise her professional and personal skills to the benefit of the organisation which had provided so many opportunities for her own child.

With a background in the executive headship of schools and the provision of school improvement services on behalf of local authorities, Bev brings many skills which will support the Club in its next phase of development.

Bev’s desire is to ensure that excellent opportunities are available for every single member, gymnasts, staff and parents alike. Her belief that Leeds Gymnastics’ Club can grow to become an outstanding model for others to follow is supported by practical application of knowledge and skills acquired through her many years of leading on organisational visioning and culture, structures and communications, human resourcing, professional training and curriculum development.