At Schools Plus we are privileged to welcome hundreds of happy customers into our venues each year. Most of these customers have a very easy booking experience with us – they contact Schools Plus seeking a venue to host their event or activity, we find a suitable site at a partner school and together both parties finalise the booking.
However, occasionally circumstances require that Schools Plus go the extra mile to make sure a customer can find a home for their booking as was the case with the East Coast Emeralds cheerleading group.
The East Coast Emeralds are a ‘competitive and recreational All-Star cheerleading programme based in Norwich, Norfolk’ that welcome all abilities along between ages 5 years to adult. At the start of 2018, the Emeralds’ were having major problems finding a home for their classes and without a home of their own the club would struggle to meet the demand for the ever-increasing number of athletes. The group had run into a big issue trying to find a space with the competition standard sprung floor they were searching for.
Around the same time, our Venue Manager Michelle Lucas had just taken over at a few schools in the Norfolk area. Michelle had been advertising on social media when she has approached by the Emeralds with their search for space. Michelle immediately began searching across all our schools in the area to find a home for the Emeralds, however there was seemingly nowhere suitable.
Inspiration struck as Michelle had the great idea to approach Hewett Academy, one of Schools Plus’s partner schools in the local area, with a suggestion of coming together to repurpose and rebuild an old run-down gym facility at the Academy into a permanent home for the East Coast Emeralds.
This was a big project and we were grateful that the Hewett Academy Trust shared our vision and agreed to help both Schools Plus and East Coast Emeralds achieve this conversion. The first big task was fitting the new sprung flooring which was key for the Emeralds to perform and practice. As soon as this was in place lots of other exciting changes started rolling in.
Michelle was kind enough to send over a few words on her experience working with the East Coast Emeralds –
“The passion the Emeralds have for their sport is infectious. They are truly dedicated to their club and invest so much of their time to it, to achieve great results for the Norwich athletes. They have laid their own Sprung floor which has made an incredible difference to their training potential. The transformation of the gym is amazing and unrecognisable.
The Emeralds are a family run club comprising of two sisters Becky and Jen at the forefront with their mum and dad’s support as well as the girl’s partners, it’s a true family affair! It has been such an honour to have been able to help them achieve their dream of having their own home! The East Coast Emeralds have been a true pleasure to work with and I wish them all the very best of luck for the future
As well as the new flooring, a new refurbished walk in cupboard was constructed. The old stale storage space for equipment was transformed into a fantastic chill out area for the athletes to hang out inbetween classes. There was also banners, plaques and logos displaying the Emeralds crest hung up on the walls – really making the new space a proud home for the group.
We were so proud that Michelle went above and beyond to source this new permanent home for the East Coast Emeralds and we know how pleased they are to have a local base to train and practice each and every week. We’re happy to report that the group are still going strong and achieving great success competing.
Michelle kindly reached out to Jill from the group who had these kind words to say
From our very first communication with Michelle Lucas at Schools Plus we have found the organisation to be very proactive, supportive and approachable, they displayed empathy to their our needs.
When the first option Schools Plus put forward to us did not come to fruition, Michelle Lucas worked extremely hard on our behalf to secure us an alternative venue, liaising between The Inspiration Trust and Hewett Academy to ensure a satisfactory outcome for all. The home of East Coast Emeralds was found!
The service we receive from Schools Plus is outstanding. We continue to have a great relationship with them and see someone from Schools Plus on a daily basis and they are always friendly, approachable and helpful.
We would definitely recommend Schools Plus to anyone looking for a venue to hire. They are easy to work with and are available to talk to at anytime to resolve any issues that may arise.
It needs to be appreciated how difficult it is to find premises that are affordable and fit for purpose. From the very beginning Michelle Lucas, from Schools Plus, understood and shared our vision and we would not be where we are today without her support.
We hope you enjoyed this story of Schools Plus helping a customer find the venue they require. Although not always on the same scale as this redevelopment project, we always thrive to go the extra mile to help our customers find suitable homes for their bookings and events.
If you’d like to find out more about the facilities we have available at Hewett Academy, please visit – http://www.schoolsplus.co.uk/hewettacademy/
Phone – 0345 222 2323 | Email – enquiries@schoolsplus.co.uk | Web – www.schoolsplus.co.uk