Hello my name is Ella, I'm 14 years old and a competitive cheerleader. I am fundraising to help make my dream come true as I may never get this chance again.

I started doing gymnastics when I was just 5 years old at a club in Essex where I lived. After moving to Suffolk, I joined my first cheerleading team in 2014 at the age of 6. After spending a few years competing around the country, I moved to another team in 2017 where I felt I had more opportunity to progress and compete at a higher level. I spent 3 seasons with this team competing at some of the highest competitions in the UK. During the 3rd season I also joined another team doing dance and competed in a Hip Hop team.

In 2020 I joined my current team Casablanca.

The last year has been very hard due to the pandemic and not being able to train in the gym or compete but we did plenty of online classes via zoom where I took over my parents lounge and it became my gym doing 3/4 different classes a day.

Having been on a level 3 team, we have just had our tryouts for the upcoming season 11 and I am over the moon to have made it into the International Open Large Coed Level 6 team. This is the team I have always dreamt about joining as they get to compete at the World Championships in Florida. My hard work and commitment over the years has paid off and I couldn't be happier and moving from a level 3 team to a level 6 team shows how far I have come along and the faith Casablanca have in my ability to compete at the highest level.

So we are trying to fundraise so that I am able to compete with my team in Florida.

To be able to compete in this team at this level, it will cost my parents around £2,500. We looked at some grants but because cheer is not classed as a sport in England we are not eligible to apply. I am one of 6 children and unfortunately my mum is the only one that works in our house as my dad is disabled. My dad is a leg amputee but he runs around after me, driving me to all my training and all over the country to compete as well as my brother and sister to their sports and clubs, he makes sure we all get to where we need to be.

I have wanted to compete in Florida at the worlds competition since I was 9. I first saw older athletes from the gym I was at go and compete and to see them compete in front of all those people was amazing. Seeing all the different teams from everywhere and how they look out for each other and cheer each other on is an amazing experience in England it would be incredible to experience at a competition of that size.

My favorite part of cheer is stunting, that is where you show skills with someone in the air called a flyer. That is what I am in the team, and get thrown quite high as I show different moves. I have learnt to trust people and great teamwork through cheer. I have learnt lots of skills I can use in my life as well as making lots of friends all over the country.

If you could help make my dream possible so I can compete at this level it would be greatly appreciated.

Kind Regards

Ella