MORE than 20 young gymnasts got in the Sport Relief spirit by back-flipping for a mile.

Youngsters at Sutton Village Gymnasium put on their charity T-shirts and displayed their best skills for the camera.

Using a tumble track and parallel bars, they each took it in turns to flip into the air, ahead of the Sport Relief Mile on Saturday, March 25.

Dave Wright, 59, who has been running the club for almost 18 years, said: "We do a lot of fundraising for the gym, the team go on walks and bag pack in supermarkets.

"Sport Relief is wonderful. It's really important for clubs like ours.

"Gymnastics is great for building social skills and the body conditioning and discipline is good for young people."

Dave first got involved with gymnastics after his daughter Danielle became Yorkshire champion. He has been a coach for 26 years and was formerly a British lightweight judo champion.

Melissa Stabler, 15, has been learning gymnastics at the club for 11 years.

She said she loves the atmosphere and trains once or twice a week.

"Everyone is always happy here and this is the first time we've been involved in Sport Relief," she said.

"The self-discipline we are taught will help us later in life."

Melissa's friend Phoebe Webster, 13, also enjoys learning new moves. She said the team's next competition is at Woodford Leisure Centre in March, taking on other gymnasts from across East Yorkshire. She said: "We want to raise awareness of Sport Relief and get more people involved."

Thomas Clarke, 10, hopes to, one day, compete in the Olympics. He said: "I love the tumble track and bars at the gym and will definitely be watching the London Olympics on TV, I watch it every year. To compete is my dream.

"I can do three back flips on the floor now and I'm going to keep on practicing."