Jessica's Twirling Dreams - Help her shine for England!

Hello! I'm Julie, Jessica's Mum.

Jess is 12 and a dedicated Baton Twirler. She has been a competitive twirler since she was 6, coached by the brilliant Laura Holland with Riverside Reflections Baton Twirling Team.

Baton Twirling is so beneficial for young people as it helps develop concentration, coordination , perseverance, teamwork, resilience, stamina and flexibility. It also supports competitors in developing positive attitudes and life skills such as winning and losing well, and helps to develop a balanced, healthy mindset.

Here are the National Championships she has won since she started twirling in 2018:

BBTF Basic Strut, Military Strut, Solo, Dance Twirl and Duet (2019)

NBTA Basic Strut, Trio and Freestyle (2022)

BBTF X- Strut, Duet, Dance Twirl (2023)

NBTA Solo and Two Baton (2023)

BBTF X-Strut, Solo, Two Baton, Duet and Twirl Team (2024)

NBTA Artistic Dance (2024)

In March 2025, Jess competed and was selected to represent England at the IBTF Nations Cup event, which takes place every 2 years. This year (2025), the event is to be held in Turin, Italy in early August.

Jessica was selected to join the England squad and will compete in the Youth B category for the Two Baton event. Two baton is exactly what it sounds like - keeping two batons moving simultaneously, with various body and baton moves, releases, receptions and patterns! Think hand/body - eye co-ordination to a crazy level and you're halfway there.

12 is the youngest age at which you can compete to be part of Nations Cup, so we are super proud of her for being selected first time out. However, the hard work really begins now as she will be competing with athletes from nations across the world and wants to do her best!

We will use any funds raised towards the additional expenses that the honour of representing one's country brings, such as extra training fees, hall hire fees, travel costs including flights, accommodation, a new costume and training gear. Her coach will also need to attend to support her, so we would also like to go some way to meet some of these costs too, so that Jess can perform to her best with her mentor's support by her side.

It really is every twirler's dream to represent their country and Jess is so excited to be given the opportunity to do so. We will make sure we meet all necessary costs however we need to, but every donation made will definitely oil the wheels to get her on her way to Turin!

If you own a business, or manage community partnership for an organisation that might wish to sponsor Jessica with a more significant sponsorship donation, we will:

*share regular updates and photos with you that you can use in your own social media to show your social outreach values and the importance of community partnership to your company

*ensure your logo is able to be placed on any training gear she uses, promoting your business

*ensure that your business/organisation is mentioned in any social media posts about Jessica's journey. As Jess is only 12 and not old enough yet for a Facebook account herself, I will set up and manage a page on her behalf, just for this purpose in due course!

Do feel free to contact me to discuss any business sponsorship proposal.

Thank you for your time in reading this and for donating to help Jess on her twirly England journey to Italy!