A young man from Crewe is hoping to raise funds to travel to Baku in Azerbaijan this October after securing a place in the GB mens national team.

19-year-old Joe Oldham, who has lived in Crewe his whole life, has been doing gymnastics for about 14 years, competing for ten of those years.

His gymnastics journey started at the age of six years old, training at a club called Camm Street Gymnastics where famous gymnasts such as Beth Tweddle have trained.

As of three years ago, Joe now trains at Crewe's LS Gymnastics Academy where he and his team have won all three qualifying events for the British championships and two finals events with another finals event at the end of this month which they hope to win.

You can donate to the fundraiser of teenager Joe (right) by clicking the red link at the bottom of this article.

He said: "We have also competed in the Mid European championships 2023 in Italy and placed 2nd out of six beating teams such as Italy, Azerbaijan, Netherlands, Austria. I train three hours on Tuesdays, three hours on Thursdays and four hours on Saturday."

"In Teamgym, the European championships is the highest possible level achievable in the sport and to be given the opportunity to represent the country at this level is a huge privilege however, with it being a less focused on sport, it is all self-funded and being only 19 it is quite difficult to afford all things required to compete. This is why I decided to start a GoFundMe because any financial support whatsoever is a huge help for me."

Joe has been eligible for the European Championships before, however due to previous injuries he has missed out on the opportunity.

According to Joe, a typical training session involves a thorough stretch at the start for injury prevention, usually followed by some conditioning relevant to gymnastics, then around an hour of floor work with the remainder of the session being trampette, vault and tumble to improve and perfect the acrobatic aspect with a stretch off at the end.

The flag of Azerbaijan.

"My parents and grandparents have been very supportive of this achievement and have helped financially wherever possible", he said.

The money will go towards training fees for the eight camps held in the build up to the competition, which will cost around £300.

It will also cover the cost of travel and accommodation which is around £1200, plus purchasing kit that is mandatory which will cost around £200.

As of publication, £270 of the £2500 target has been fundraised.

Crewe: You can find here GoFundMe page HERE.