Our Club History
Recoil Trampoline Club is a registered charity (no. 1145959) The Club was founded in 1998 for all who wish to enjoy the sport of trampolining. We offer expert coaching for children and adults of all ages and abilities from beginner to competitor. We also have dedicated and integrated sessions for those members with disabilities. Whether you want to bounce just for fun and exercise or to reach the highest level of competitive jumping, we are the Club for YOU!
Building the Trampoline & Activity Centre
A little bit of history..... a whole lot of future!
In 1999, Recoil Trampoline Club began the long campaign towards building a regional facility for trampolining in Brentwood and a home for our Club. The project was the idea of our then Chair of Trustees and Senior Coach, Tricia Sharpe. She worked tirelessly, with Club Patron Martin Peters MBE, to steer the Club towards raising an amazing £360,000.
In 2011 Tricia identified an underused and unloved hall called Keys Hall in Brentwood that would be perfect for her project and the good news was that she had raised enough money to begin the refurbishment on 12th July and the work took just 12 weeks to complete.
Our grateful thanks to Martin Peters MBE and our supporters who helped this dream come true:
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Essex County Council’s 2012 Legacy Fund – £200,000
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Brentwood Borough Council – £50,000
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Zurich Finance ‘Openwork Foundation’ towards the Multi-Sensory Room – £10,000
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British Gymnastics Lottery Funding – £65,000
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The Billericay Round Table - £10,000 (donation in 2019)
Recoil TC is also grateful to The Saddlers' Company and Hutton Free Church Women's Fellowship for their generous donations. If you would like to make a donation please contact us.
Ted Blake and the History of Trampolining in Brentwood
On 8th October 2011 the old Keys Hall became The Trampoline & Activity Centre! Keys Hall was originally built as an Army gymnasium, which was used for PT training during WWII. A Brentwood man named Ted Blake was the physical Instructor at the hall, who went on to become the early pioneer of trampolining in Britain. Ted Blake was to become influential in building the popularity of the sport in the UK. He became Managing Director of Nissen UK (manufacturers of trampolines in the Brentwood area for many years) and a chief architect in the way competitive trampolining operates today. Adopting this Hall for Trampolining is in keeping with the history of the building the core of which dates back to the 19th century. The Club named the main hall housing the trampolines ‘The Ted Blake Hall' in his memory: Terence (Ted) Blake (1921-1998).
Tim Blake, son of Ted, came to our Grand Opening Day on 3rd October 2011 and gave his wholehearted approval of our unique facility dedicated to trampolining and his father.
The Ted Blake Hall has 9 full-sized competition standard trampolines all of which are sunken to floor level, providing a safer and more accessible training arena. The Centre has a large welcoming reception area, viewing areas and ancillary rooms including a classroom for coach & judge education. There are also rooms available for hire, please contact us for more information
Disability Suite
Adjacent to the main trampoline hall is a Disability Suite. This area has its own entrance into a large welcoming reception area, toilet facilities, a wet room with specialist changing facilities and overhead ceiling track hoist. There is also a state of the art Multi-Sensory room which has direct access into the main trampoline hall from this area.
Mayor’s Chosen Charity
Recoil Trampoline Club was very proud to be chosen as one of the Mayor Cllr Joan Holmes’ nominated charities in 2011. This was a great honour as not only as the Mayor raised a huge amount of funds for Recoil but also for her support also raised the profile of our project. At the end of her term, she was able to award us £13,250 which was enough to fully equip our Multi-Sensory Room. Joan then kindly accepted a position on our Board of Trustees
pictured here is Club Patron Martin Peters MBE with then Brentwood Mayor Joan Holmes' overseeing the building work at the Trampoline & Activity Centre
Recoil a Winning Club
In June 2012 three members of the Recoil’s coaching team were shortlisted for three British Gymnastics National Awards, something that had never happened before in the history of the awards. Tricia Sharpe received the Services to Gymnastics in the Community Award.
Fundraising
We are continuing fundraising and making applications for grants from organisations to help grow and support the work the Club does for the community.
TUK TUK Charity Challenge!
In April 2019 Trustees Tricia Sharpe and Anita Keen with support from Wendy Kelleher and Beryl McMillan embarked on a charity challenge to drive a Tuk Tuk from Lands End to John O'Groats raising funds for the Club and awareness of trampolining for people with disabilities.
They raised over £6,000.00 which was used to install an automatic door entry system at the Trampoline & Activity Centre, providing easier access for people with disabilities.
If you are an individual or organisation that would like to support our unique Club, please contact info@recoiltrampolineclub.co.uk or telephone 01277 500282 for more information.
To book trampoline sessions, please email info@recoiltrampolineclub.org or telephone 01277 500282.
click on the white arrows to take a virtual tour of our facility