Bury St Edmunds Academy of Movement, in Boldero Road, reaches new heights at carthweel marathon and record breaking fundraiser
Bury St Edmunds could be home to eight new world records following a successful event at the weekend.
The records were broken during a Cartwheel Marathon and Record Breaking event on Saturday and Sunday at Academy of Movement, in Boldero Road.
More than 200 people attended the circus, dance and gymnastics academy on Saturday and Sunday for the event.
They also raised around £6,000 for the venue, which will now be matched funded by West Suffolk Council to help upgrade facilities.
Owner Ben Brason said: “It was a fantastic day. There were 117 people cartwheeling on both days and we reached our target distance of 26.2 miles, much quicker than expected, finishing around lunchtime on Sunday.
“We also set eight new kids’ world records including the longest handstand against a wall, the most continuous cartwheels and the longest distance on a walking globe.
“They are unofficial at this stage until we send them to the Guinness World Records Kids, for verification, but we are confident.
“We’ve now raised around £6,000 towards our upgrades, called the BIG RIG Upgrade, with some of that through our gofundme page, which is still open. It’s designed to help us become the best circus and gymnastics school in Britain.
The Academy of Movement was founded in 2020 and first ran classes in community centres around the town. It moved to its current home in September last year and is hoping to use the money to expand its aerial equipment, as well as general upgrades.
Ben Brason is a former Great Britain gymnast. He currently holds the world record, standing at 26, for most consecutive backflips on spring-loaded stilts. Partner Jamie has appeared as a dancer in the West End as well as a other worldwide events.
The academy now has around 300 students on its books.
The academy’s BIG RIG Upgrade fund can be found by visiting www.gofundme.com and searching Academy of Movement.
The total raised so far includes money raised here.
