about us

Our story

Affinity was founded in September 2006 by Jennifer Page, at Sheredes Primary School in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire, UK. After the school purchased some gymnastics equipment from a lottery award, Jen became the coach to run the classes. It became so popular within its first year that the school asked Jen to take over the running of the club as well as the coaching.

In September 2007, the club (then named Sheredes Gymnastics) became registered with British Gymnastics, continued the school after school sessions and started adding pre-school classes on Saturdays and competitive squad classes later in the evenings.

Our first gymnasts competed within Hertfordshire in early 2008 and the club continued to develop, adding more days and classes and coaches. 

To reflect the growth and development of club, the need for its own identity became apparent. We rebranded the club to Affinity Gymnastics in 2012 and the search for our premises began. We wanted to offer a unique experience where people of all ages and abilities can feel good about themselves, and achieve success in an atmosphere designed for health, movement and fun. 

After much searching (and visualisation!) we found a local space, renovated it, and Affinity HQ in Hoddesdon was opened in August 2014. Classes continued at Sheredes Primary School, as they do today.

The club pretty much tripled in membership over the next 18 months, culminating in winning the National Club of the Year award from British Gymnastics. 

We then expanded our offering and developed Parkour as one of our activities, reflecting the broadening of the sport and our innovative approach.  

Affinity founder, Jennifer Page, sitting on beam in gym

Affinity Gymnastics continued to go from strength to strength in the years that followed and an exciting opportunity arose in 2019 to collaborate with Sapphire Elite Cheerleaders and we’re all now part of the same family.

In the more recent years we renamed Affinity Gymnastics to become Affinity Academy to encompass our larger, united organisation offering a wider range of classes. I n 2023 we evolved our branding and launched a fresh new identity to better show on the outside what we stand for and where we’re going. 

Even more excitingly, 2023 has also brought us a whole new HQ home. After a renovation project we moved our HQ from upstairs into a much larger downstairs space at Plumpton house. At more than double the size, it’s a huge upgrade for everyone. Parents get a larger dedicated reception area and ground floor entrance, athletes have a massive new sprung floor, vault and double the amount of bars and beams. 

Our vision and mission

Our aim is to create a unique and inspiring experience where people of all ages and abilities can feel good about themselves. We want all our pupils to achieve success in an atmosphere designed for movement, health and fun.

Delivering inclusive, friendly, high-quality coaching in an environment that recognises individual achievements (as well as competitive ones), igniting self-belief and nurturing life skills.

meet the team

We call them Team Awesome, well, simply because that’s what they are!

They all play a huge part in making Affinity and Sapphire so STRONG and working hard to be role models to the next generation.

senior team

I’m the founder of Affinity. I started teaching the classes in 2006 and I'm in charge of where we’re going and why. I am super passionate about empathetically sharing sport and self belief. I see the best in people and love to bring to life new ideas. I’m also an aerial silks enthusiast, lifelong learner, P!nk superfan and proud cat parent to George and Amelia.
Jennifer Page
Affinity Founder
The easiest way to describe my role at Affinity is I do everything bar the actual coaching! The best part of my job is seeing all the hard work behind the scenes coming to life. I spend many hours behind a screen registering our athletes for events and things, and then to actually see them do what they do best makes it all worthwhile. A fun fact about me is I can lick my own elbow!
Lauren Wood
General Manager

senior coaches

I am the department leader for gymnastics here at Affinity. After 16 years of coaching I still do really love every part of my job, but if I had to pick my favourite part, I would say teaching a new skill and finding different ways to teach it. Everybody learns in a slightly different way and it is so rewarding to find the perfect way to suit each gymnast and coach too! As well as gymnastics, I love aerial dance and musical theatre... I’ve seen ‘We will rock you’ 18 times!
Harriet Bellieu-Cruse
Gymnastics
Hey! I'm Dan, the head parkour coach at affinity academy. The best part about my job is that I get to coach something I actively practice myself! Being able to pass my knowledge onto the younger generation and see them grow is fantastic. My hobbies outside of the gym are, parkour (of course), gaming on my playstation and spending time in nature!
Daniel Bracebridge
Parkour
We're excited to introduce you to our talented team member and will be sharing profile information shortly.
Ashleigh Brown
Cheer (Sapphire Elite)

Office Team

My job is looking after your membership and Affinity accounts. I love finding spaces for our members and then seeing them move up to the different age classes over the years. I always love hearing how they have grown in confidence and ability (and lovely to speak to the parents as well). In my spare time, I love going out with my family or friends and eating food I haven't cooked!!
Hayley Baker
Memberships and Accounts Administrator
I work pretty much behind the scenes now, looking after some of the admin and business needs of the business. I've worked for Affinity for almost 12 years, starting when my children attended classes at Sheredes. I've seen lots of growth and changes to the club and it still brings me so much excitement and joy to still be working for this dynamic business.
Brenda Pymont
Business Support

Coaching Team

I'm level 2 coach, coaching pre-school, gymnastics and tumbling. I also do admin work behind the scenes - if you've ever received a 'Welcome' postcard or wondered who gets the badges and certificates ready for badge weeks, that's me! I love having fun while working with amazing people who I've made friends for life. I'm also a big music jukebox, play any song and guaranteed I will know the name and artist in seconds.
Tilly
Gymnastics Coach
I love coaching and especially love to see athletes gain new skills, new levels of confidence and seeing routines come together. Cheer is so much more than sparkles, competitions and trophies, cheer is about friendships, team work, trust and hard work and I love to be a part of that. I love travelling, going to new places and keeping busy....I'm not very good at sitting still! I have a degree and Masters in Law, love to learn and love a crime documentary.
Lauren
Cheer and Tumble Coach
I’m Annie and a Level 1 coach at affinity! I've been a Gymnastics Coach since the age of 15 and I've been doing gymnastics myself since I was 5. I've always loved gymnastics coaching, as my mum was my coach growing up, so I aspire to be like her. The best thing about being a gymnastic coach is seeing the smile on a gymnast's face after they have mastered a new skill that they've worked hard on.
Annie
Coach
I am a Cheerleading Coach with Sapphire, this is my 20th year with Sapphire and my 16th year coaching. I love working with all the athletes and love watching how they grow and gain self confidence through performing and competing.
Kirsty
Cheer Coach
I started gymnastics when I was 5 years old before moving into coaching so that means that I have been involved in gymnastics for many, many years!! I’ve been coaching alongside Jen from almost the start of the Affinity Academy journey and am proud to have seen how the club has grown. I still enjoy making classes fun as well as developing all of those skills they gymnasts want to achieve.
Vicki
Coach
I am a level 1 coach at affinity. I love helping our first time gymnasts, it’s so rewarding being part of their journey in to the world of gymnastics. Another love of mine is musical theatre.
Carole
Coach
We're excited to introduce you to our talented team member and will be sharing profile information shortly.
Jasmine
Coach
I'm a Gymnastics Level 1 Coach. I have been doing gymnastics since i was 2 years old, competing in regional artistic gymnastics and tumbling competitions. My favourite part of my job is joining in with conditioning exercises and helping the gymnasts master skills and building their confidence. I love to perform and sing and would love to have a job helping the environment in the future.
Holly
Coach
I am a parkour and tumble coach at Affinity and focus on passing all my learning onto the future generation to make them enjoy it as much as I do and become the best gymnasts and free runners they can be. I have a passion for gymnastics along with a real enthusiasm for almost every sport.
Jack
Coach
I am a level one coach. I love passing on my passion for gymnastics to the children I coach and making sure they leave every class with a smile on their face. I also love playing football and I play at county level, so if you ever want to talk to me about football I'd be happy to chat!
Lauren
Coach
I am a gymnastics coach at affinity; I’ve done gymnastics for nearly 16 years and coaching for 5 of those. I love coaching, inspiring the younger gymnasts and helping them to learn new skills. I want everyone to be able to have the same amazing experience of gymnastics as I have. In my spare time I love to play rugby and bake cakes for my family!
Amelia
Coach
I am a coach in training at Affinity. I started coaching with Affinity in the last year however I have been with the club since I was 7 years old, originally as a gymnast attending regional competitions. I enjoy helping younger gymnasts to achieve new skills and encouraging them to believe in themselves. I love cheerleading and am also a member of Sapphire Elite and a coach in training with Sapphire too.
Cassia
Coach
We're excited to introduce you to our talented team member and will be sharing profile information shortly.
Siena
Coach
We're excited to introduce you to our talented team member and will be sharing profile information shortly.
Katie
Coach
I am a Parkour and Gymnastics Coach at Affinity, having previously coached Karate. I really love working with the students and helping them overcome any challenges, but most of all I love seeing them having fun appreciating the smiles on their faces. I spend a lot of my spare time reading and watching live music. I think I'm an approachable person, and I'm more than happy to catch up with parents after class.
cameron
Coach
We're excited to introduce you to our talented team member and will be sharing profile information shortly.
Ruby
Coach
I am a cheerleading coach with Sapphire Elite and I currently coach the minis and tinies (Sparkle & Glitter)! I love watching the girls confidence grow throughout the season. My favourite food is pasta!
Faye
Coach
We're excited to introduce you to our talented team member and will be sharing profile information shortly.
Lara
Coach
We're excited to introduce you to our talented team member and will be sharing profile information shortly.
leonie
Coach
We're excited to introduce you to our talented team member and will be sharing profile information shortly.
giovanni
Coach
We're excited to introduce you to our talented team member and will be sharing profile information shortly.
CASSIE
Coach
We're excited to introduce you to our talented team member and will be sharing profile information shortly.
ELEANOR
Coach
We're excited to introduce you to our talented team member and will be sharing profile information shortly.
CHLOE
Coach
We're excited to introduce you to our talented team member and will be sharing profile information shortly.
JESS
Coach
We're excited to introduce you to our talented team member and will be sharing profile information shortly.
catherine
Coach
We're excited to introduce you to our talented team member and will be sharing profile information shortly.
phoebe
Coach
We're excited to introduce you to our talented team member and will be sharing profile information shortly.
chloe
Coach
We're excited to introduce you to our talented team member and will be sharing profile information shortly.
Yasmin
Coach

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