Former gymnast Ruth Gibson,  48, who represented Scotland twice at the Commonwealth Games, says: “It’s going to be an exciting year for us, because we are hoping to open a new facility that will help us cope with the huge demand for our classes.

“We started with seven members – now we have more than 1100 and our waiting list grows daily.

“We have a fundraising target of £250,000 and so far we have £165,000 in the bank. It’s a big challenge but we are hoping to attract sponsors who can help us make it happen.”

Ruth and Wendy have been searching for a suitable site for a custom-built, state of the art training facility and are keeping their options open.

“We are looking in to building our own, but obviously that becomes very complicated with planning permission and so on, so we are also looking at potential existing units we could take on,” adds Ruth.

“We recently moved in to a unit in Blantyre which is fantastic, as it has helped us ease the pressure on our other bases but we need more space.”

Ruth, who represented Scotland at the 1986 and 1990 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh and Auckland respectively, started coaching gymnastics in 2006.

“I’d worked abroad for a few years, and got a job with Scottish Gymnastics when I came home – but an office job wasn’t for me,” she says.

“I approached Hamilton College to see if they would let me run some classes and they were really popular – and it just snowballed from there.”

Former gymnast and active schools co-ordinator Wendy was also keen to provide the opportunity for local kids to take part in the sport and in 2007, Hamilton Gymnastics Club was born.

“Ruth and I knew each other when she coached me at East Kilbride Gymnastics Club when I was young, and our paths crossed again when we both worked for Scottish Gymnastics,” says Wendy.

The two women started running classes together, moving around different venues. Ruth laughs: “It was just us, lugging our trusty trampette and crash mats around with us in the back of a van – poor Wendy often had to sit in the back, balancing on the equipment, completely against any sensible health and safety advice.

“But we did love it and we knew there was a demand for it as there really was nothing in the area.”

Things really took off when Ruth and Wendy got the keys to Eddlewood Sports Barn in Hamilton, a former council centre.

“The council was looking to offload it and wanted community groups to tender for it, so we put together a business case and got it for about £1,” laughs Ruth.

“It was amazing – the phone was ringing off the hook with people wanting to join.

“We held a ‘come and try session’ and it was pouring with rain, so we thought hardly anyone would turn up.”

She adds: “We opened the doors and the queue was round the block.”

Wendy smiles: “When we moved into Eddlewood in 2013, we had 400 members – three months later, we had 800. We were over the moon when triple world champion and Olympic bronze medallist Beth Tweddle came to officially open it too – we even offered to rename it Tweddlewood in her honour….”

Now the club operates in five centres – Eddlewood, Uddingston Grammar School, Hamilton College, Blantyre Leisure Centre and the new unit on Blantyre Industrial Estate.

They have five full time staff, three freelancers, one Modern Apprentice and 14 paid coaches – and almost 1200 members across an assortment of disciplines including male and female artistic, tumble, freestyle, acro, pre-school and adult classes.

“We just want to give every child who wants it the opportunity to do gymnastics,” says Wendy, simply. “Whether they go on to be a champion or not, gymnastics is fun, it teaches kids great discipline and stamina and really helps them build up their confidence.”

The two women are the driving force behind HGC, taking minimal salaries and working long days to invest every spare hour and every spare penny back into the club, but they acknowledge the support of their board of trustees, volunteer helpers, coaches and parents.

The hard work has paid off too – as well as winning Club of the Year at the Scottish Gymnastics Awards in 2015, Hamilton now has a clutch of young gymnasts winning titles and accolades at major contests around the country.

The club’s talented display team won gold at the first ever Great British Gym for Life competition in Liverpool in August, they have two Scottish tumble champions and at the Scottish Levels Championships in October, Hamilton was the only club to have a team in the top six at every single level. They also created four Scottish champions at the Levels competition.

As well as creating champions – Wendy and Ruth believe some of the club’s best gymnasts could well be on course for the 2022 Commonwealth Games – the club’s heart and soul remains in providing opportunities for all.

“Our gymnasts go from strength to strength with increasing numbers representing Scotland on a regular basis,” says Wendy.

“And we do want our gymnasts to reach for the stars and maybe produce Scottish, British, World and Olympic champions one day.

“But we also want to inspire children who just want to get involved, have some fun and learn fantastic skills.”

She grins: “It sounds really naff but we are like a big family. We want people to enjoy coming and get a lot out of their time with us. We do work hard, but we are really passionate about giving young people those opportunities.”