Yahoo News The North Tyneside weightlifting club named best in the UK at annual achievement awards
A North Tyneside weightlifting club has been named as the best in the UK at the British Weight Lifting Annual Achievement Awards.. Based in Wallsend, North Tyneside Barbells CIC has beaten competition from across the UK to be named club of the year.
As well as winning the Eleiko Club of the Year Award, two athletes from the club also picked up prizes, with Gemma Peregrine being named Optimum Nutrition Masters Lifter of the Year, and Josh Hutton winning SBD Young Weightlifter of The Year. The British Weight Lifting Annual Achievement Awards recognise outstanding contributions and efforts from the weightlifting community, celebrating excellence in the sport.
The awards come at a very special time for North Tyneside Barbells, which is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. Steve Sharp, founder and head coach at North Tyneside Barbells, says: “We were up against some fantastic clubs, so it’s a real honour to be named club of the year and put North Tyneside on the British weightlifting map.
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"To be honest, it hasn’t quite sunk in yet. When I started the gym 10 years ago, I could never have imagined everything we have achieved. A huge thank-you has to go to all our coaches and members – you make North Tyneside Barbells what it is."
Youth development is a key focus for the club, with North Tyneside Barbells being the only weightlifting club in the North East with British Weight Lifting Talent Academy status. At the same time, the club also has a thriving community of masters lifters aged 35+.
This is encapsulated by the club's two award-winning lifters - 19-year-old Josh Hutton, one of the UK’s most promising young weightlifters and a member of the Junior GB squad. Gemma Peregrine competes in the women’s 40-44 age category and is one of the UK’s most successful masters lifters on the national and international stage, winning gold at the 2023 British, European and World Masters Weightlifting Championships.
Steve Sharp says: "Gemma and Josh are brilliant athletes and fantastic role models for the entire community at North Tyneside Barbells. I am absolutely over the moon that they have won such prestigious national awards. At North Tyneside Barbells, we encourage everyone to make the most of their athletic potential regardless of age, and Gemma and Josh are the perfect examples of that.
"At North Tyneside Barbells, we want to be a force in British weightlifting – and a force for good in the community. Our gym motto is ‘strong people build strong societies’. Lifting weights is great for your physical and mental health and I am passionate about inspiring more people in North Tyneside to take up strength training."
